( 



^ 

c 




I 



f 



SCRIPTURE DOCTRINE 

OF ^ 

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION; 



WITH OTHER KIITORED SUBJECTS, 



ILLUSTRATED AND CONFIRMED 



A SERIES OF DISCOURSES 



DESIGNED TO 



THROW LIGHT ON THE WAY OF HOLINESS. 



* BY REV. ASA MAHAN, 

rRESIDENT OF THE OBERLIN COLLEGIATE INSTITDTB. 



«* Now the jusl shall live by faith." — Heb. x. 38 



SEVENTH EDITION. 

BOSTON: 

WAITE, PEIRCE, & CO., 
(SUCCESSORS TO D. S. KING & CO.,) 
No. 1 Cornhill. 

1 844. 




Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1839, 
By D. S. King, 
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 



STEREOTYPED AT THE 
BOSTON TYPE AND STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY. 



TO 

TllE HONEST INQUIRER AFTER HOLINESS, 



THIS WORK 



IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, 



rXRVENT PRATER TO THE BLESSED TRINITT, 

THAT ITS PERUSAL 

MAY BE TO THE READER A SOURCE OF AS GREAT 
COMFORT AND PROFIT, 

AS ITS PREPARATION HAS BEEN TO 



THE AUTHOR. 



CONTENTS. 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



DISCOURSE I. 
Its Nature, 7 

DISCOURSE II. 
Attainable, 19 

DISCOURSE III. 
The Objections answered, 52 

DISCOURSE IV. 
The New Covenant, 77 

DISCOURSE V. 
Full Redemption, 105 

DISCOURSE VI. 
Special Redemption 126 

DISCOURSE VII. 
The Promises, , 146 

DISCOURSE VIII. 
The Divine Teacher. 163 



NOTE ON THE NEW COVENANT 192 

I * 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



DISCOURSE I. 

THE NATURE OF CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 

" Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is per- 
fect." — i»fa«. V. 48. 

Two important features of this passage demand 
our special attention. 1. The command, " Be perfect." 
2. The nature and extent of the command ; " even as 
your Father in heaven is perfect." In other words, 
we are here requu'ed to be as perfect, as holy, as free 
fi^om all sin, in our sphere as creatm-es, as God is in 
his as om* Creator and om* Sovereign. 

My design in the present discourse is to answer this 
one question; What is perfection in holiness In an- 
swering this inquiry, I would remark, that perfection 
in holiness implies a full and perfect discharge of our 
entire duty, of all existing obligations in respect to 
Grod and all other beings. It is perfect obedience to 
the moral law. It is " loving the Lord our God with 
all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our 
strength, and our neighbor as ourselves." It implies 
the entire absence of all selfishness, and the perpetual 



8 



CHllISTIAN PERFECTION. 



presence and all-pervading influence of pure and 
perfect love. " Love is the fulfilling of the law." 

In the Christian, perfection in holiness implies the 
consecration of his whole being to Christ — the sub- 
jection of all his powers and susceptibilities to the 
control of one principle, ^ — "faith on the Son of God." 
This is what the moral law demands of him in his 
circumstances. Were the Christian in that state in 
which he should " eat and drink, and do all that he 
does for the glory of God," in which his eye should 
be perfectly single to this one object ; or in which the 
action of all his powers should be controlled by faith, 
which works by love, he would then, I suppose, have 
attained to a state of entire sanctification - his char- 
acter would be " perfect and entire, wanting nothing." 
Every duty to every being in existence would be dis- 
charged. 

It will readily be perceived, that perfect holiness, 
as above described, does not imply perfect vrlsdom, the 
exclusive attribute of God. The Scriptures, speaking 
of the human nature of Christ, affirm, that he "in- 
creased in wisdom." This surely does not imply that 
his holiness was less perfect at one time than at 
another. So of the Christian. His holiness may be 
perfect in kind, hut finite in degree, and in this sense 
imperfect; because his wdsdom and knowledge are 
limited, and in this sense imperfect. 

Holiness, in a creature, may also be perfect, and yet 
progressive — progressive, not in its nature, but in 
degree. To be perfect, it must be progressive in the 
sense last mentioned, if the powers of the subject are 
progressive. He is perfect in holiness, whose love at 
each successive moment corresponds ^vith the extent 



ITS NATURE. 



9 



of his powers. "If there be fct a willing mind, it 
is accepted accordmg to that a man hath, and not 
according to that he hath not." 

Hence I remark, that perfection in holiness does 
not imply, that we now love God with all the strength 
and intensity with which redeemed spuits in heaven 
love him. The depth and intensity of our love de- 
pend, under all circumstances, upon the vigor and 
reach of our powers, and the extent and distinctness 
of our vision of divine truth. " Here we see through 
a glass darkly ; there fece to face." Here our powers 
are comparatively weak; there they will be endowed 
with an immortal and tireless vigor. In each and 
every sphere, perfection in holmess implies a strength 
and intensity of love corresponding with the reach 
of our powers and the extent and distinctness of our 
vision of truth in that particular sphere. The child 
is perfect in holiness who perpetually exercises a 
filial and affectionate obedience to all the divine re- 
quisitions, and loves God with all the powers which 
it possesses as a child. The man is perfect in hoU- 
ness who exercises the same supreme and aifectionate 
obedience to all that God requires, and loves him to 
the full extent of his knowledge and strength as a 
man. The saint on earth is perfect, when he loves 
with all the strength and intensity rendered practi- 
cable by the extent of his knowledge and reach of his 
powers in his present sphere. The samt in heaven, 
will be favored with a seraph's vision, and a seraph's 
power. To be perfect there, he must love and adore 
with a seraph's vigor, and burn with a seraph's fire. 
To present this subject in a somewhat more dis- 



10 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



tinct and expanded form, the attention of the reader 
is now mvited to a few remarks upon 1 Thes. v. 23. 
"And the very God of peace sanctify you whclly: 
and 1 pray God your whole spirit and soul and body 
be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord 
Jesus Chi'ist." The prayer of the apostle for Chris- 
tians here is, in the language of Dr. Scott, that the 
"very God of peace" "would sanctify them wholly, 
and in respect to their entue nature, as consisting of 
a rational and immortal soul, an animal life, with its 
various sensitive appetites, and a material body ; that 
every sense, member, organ, and faculty, might be 
completely purified, and devoted to the semce of 
God ; and that thus they might be preserved blameless 
till the coming of Christ." In short, the prayer of 
the apostle is, that all the powers and susceptibilities 
of our being may not only be purified from all that 
is unholy, but wholly sanctified and devoted to Christ, 
and forever preserved in that state. Now, the powers 
and susceptibilities of our nature are all compre- 
hended in the following enumeration : the will, the 
intellect, and our mental and physical susceptibilities 
and propensities. The question to which the special 
attention of the reader is invited is this : When are 
we in a perfectly sanctified and blameless state, in 
respect to the action of all these powers and suscep- 
tibilities ? 

1. That we be in a perfectly sanctified and blame- 
less state in regard to our wills, implies, that the 
action of all our voluntary powers be in entire con- 
formity to the will of God ; that eveiy choice, every 
preference, and every volition, be controlled by a filial 



ITS NATURE. 



11 



regard to the divine requisitions. The perpetual 
language of the heart must be, " Lord, what wilt thou 
have me do ? " 

2. That w ; " be preserved blameless " in regard to 
our intellect, does not imply that we never think of 
what is evil. If this were so, Christ was not blame- 
less, because he thought of the temptations of Satan. 
Nor could the Christian repel what is evil, as he is 
required to do. To repel evil, the evil itself must be 
before the mind, as an object of thought. 

To be blameless in respect to the action of om* 
intellectual powers, does imply, 1. That every thought 
of evil be instantly suppressed and repelled. 2. That 
they be constantly employed on the inquiry, what is 
the truth and will of God, and by what means we 
may best meet the demands of the great law of love. 
3. That they be employed in the perpetual contem- 
plation of "whatsoever things are true, whatsoever 
things are honest, whatsoever things are just, what- 
soever thinsrs are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, 
whatsoever things are of good report ; if there be any 
virtue, and if there be any praise," in thinking of these 
things also. When the intellectual powers are thus 
employed, they are certainly in a blameless state. 

3. That our feelings and mental susceptibilities be 
preserved blameless, does not imply, that they are, at 
all times and circumstances, in the same intensity of 
excitement, or in the same identical state. This the 
powers and laws of our being forbid. Nor, in that 
case, could we obey the command, "Rejoice with 
those that do rejoice, and weep with those that weep.** 
Nor does it imply that no feelings can exist in the 
mind, which, under the circumstances then present, it 



12 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTIOjr. 



would be improper to indulge. A Christian, for 
example, may feel a very strong desire to speak for 
Christ under circumstances when it would be im- 
proper for him to speak. The feeling it ^elf is proper. 
But we must be guided by wisdom from above in 
respect to the question, when and where we are to 
give utterance to our feelmgs. 

That our feelings and mental susceptibilities be in 
a blameless state, does imply, 1. That they all be 
held in perfect and perpetual subjection to the will 
of God. 2. That they be in perfect and perpetual 
harmony with the truth and will of God as appre- 
hended by the intellect, and thus constituting a spot- 
less mirror, through which there shall be a perfect re- 
flection of whatsoever things are "true," "honest,'' 
"just," "pure," "lovely," and of "good report." 

4. That our "bodies be preserved blameless," 
does not, of course, imply that they are free from 
fatigue, disease, or death. Nor does it imply that no 
desu*e be excited through our physical propensities, 
which, under existing circumstances, it would be 
imlawful to indulge. The feeling of hunger in 
Christ, under circumstances in which indulgence 
was not proper, was not sinful. The consent of the 
will to gratify the feeling, and not the feeling itself, 
renders us sinners. 

That we be preserved in a sanctified and blameless 
state in respect to our bodies, does imply, 1. That 
we endeavor to acquaint ourselves wdth all the laws 
of our physical constitution. 2. That in regard to 
food, di'ink, and dress, and in regard to the indul- 
gence of all our appetites and physical propensities, 
there be a sacred and undeviating conformity to 



ITS NATURE. 



13 



these laws. 3. That every unlawful desire be in- 
stantly suppressed, and that all our propensities be 
held in perfect subjection to the will of God. 4 
That our bodies, with all our physical powers and 
propensities, be " presented to God as a living sac- 
rifice, holy and acceptable," to be employed in his 
service. 

Such is Christian Perfection. It is the consecra- 
tion of our whole bemg to Christ, and the perpetual 
employment of all our powers in his semce. It is 
the perfect assimilation of our entire character to that 
of Christ, having at all times, and under all circum- 
stances, the "same mind that was also in Christ 
Jesus." It is, in the language of Mr. Wesley, " In one 
view, purity of intention, dedicating all the life to 
God. It is the giving God all the heart ; it is one 
desire and design ruling all our tempers. It is de- 
voting, not a part, but all our soul, body, and sub- 
stance to God. In another view, it is all the mind 
that was in Christ Jesus, enabling us to walk as he 
walked. It is the circumcision of the heart from all 
filthiness, from all inward as well as outvrard pollu- 
tion. It is the renewal of the heart in the whole 
image of God, the full likeness of him that created 
it. In yet another, it is loving God with all our 
heart, and our neighbor as ourselves." 

REMARKS. 

L We will in the first place notice some of the 
features of the subject now under consideration, in 
respect to which all evangelical Christians are 
agreed. 

2 



14 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTIOIT. 



1. All, I have no doubt, will admit that the nature 
of Christian perfection has been correctly stated in 
the preceding remarks; that were any individual 
actually in the state there described, his moral and 
Christian character would be "perfect and entire, 
wanting nothing." 

2. All agree that this entire perfection in holiness 
is definitely and positively required of us in the 
Bible, and that, for not rendering such obedience to 
God, we are wholly without excuse. 

3. All agree that the fact, that one is not thus per- 
fect, should be to him a subject of deep repentance 
and humiliation, and of unfeigned sorrow and con- 
trition of heart. It is certainly no pleasing feature 
of Christian character, that we are living in partial 
disobedience to the reasonable requirements of our 
God and Savior ; and the individual that can con- 
template the fact that he is thus living, without deep, 
unfeigned, and unmingled contrition, penitence, and 
self-abasement, gives fearful evidence, that he is a 
stranger to the love of Christ. 

4. All admit that it is the indispensable duty of 
eveiy Christian to aim at entire perfection in holiness, 
and that the individual, who is not aiming at a full 
discharge of every duty, is wanting in, at least, one 
fundamental requisite of Christian character. , 

5. All agree that we are not only under obligation to 
aim at such a state, but to make it the subject of con- 
stant and fervent prayer, that God himself will thus 
sanctify us. 

6. All agree that it is practicable for professors of 
religion, generally, to make far higher attainments in 
holiness than they now do. In view of this admis- 



ITS NATURE. 



15 



sion, let me ask the question — Can he be a Christian 
who is conscious, that he is living far below his 
privileges, and is yet comparatively satisfied with his 
present state, and is not making vigorous and prayer- 
ful efforts to arise to the full standard of practicable 
attainment? Is he not li\'ing in the habitual and 
allowed neglect of an acknowledged duty? 

7. All agree that no line can be drawn this side of 
entire perfection in holiness, beyond which it is not 
practicable for the Christian to go. 

8. All agree that at death, or a short period prior 
to that event, every Christian does arrive at a state 
of entire sanctification. 

Such are the questions connected with this subject, 
in reference to which all Christians are agreed. We 
will now, 

n. In the second place, consider the question in 
respect to which they differ. It is in reference to the 
simple question. Whether we may now, during the prog- 
ress of the present life, attain to entire perfection in 
holiness, and whether it is proper for us to indulge the 
anticipation of making such attainments. One part of 
the Church affirm, that the perfect obedience which 
God requires of us, we may render to him. The 
other affirm, that it is criminal for us to expect to ren- 
der that obedience. One part affirm that we ought 
to aim at entire perfection in holiness, with the 
expectation of attaining to that state. The other 
part affirm, that we ought to aim at the same perfec- 
tion in holiness, with the certain expectation of not 
attaining to that state. On the one hand, it is af- 
firmed, that we ought to pray that the " very God of 



16 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



peace will sanctify us wholly, and preserve our whole 
spirit, and soul, and body, blameless unto the coming 
of our Lord Jesus Christ," with the expectation, that 
God will answer our prayers by the bestowment of 
that very blessing. On the other hand, it is affirmed, 
that we ought to put up that identical prayer, with 
the certain expectation of not receiving the blessing 
which we " desire of him." On the one hand, it is 
affirmed that grace is provided in the gospel to 
render the Christian, even in this life, " perfect in 
every good work to do the will of God." On the 
other hand, it is affirmed, that no such grace is pro- 
vided. 

Such is a fair and unvarnished statement of the 
questions connected with the subject under con- 
sideration, in respect to which Christians agree and 
disagree. 

in. No evil can result from the belief, that entire 
perfection in holiness is attainable in this life, pro- 
vided the true standard of perfection be kept con- 
stantly and distinctly before the mind. No one can 
show any thing intrinsic in this doctrine, thus enter- 
tained, at which the Church ought to be alarmed. 
On the other hand, the belief of this doctrine, under 
the circumstances supposed, must be of the highest 
practical utility ; because it lays the only adequate 
foundation for the most vigorous and prayerful effijrts 
after those attainments in holiness, at which all admit 
we are bound to aim. To aim at a state, with the 
certain expectation of not reaching it, must be a hard 
task truly, and must render all our effi^rts well nigh 
powerless. To aim at a state, on the other hand. 



ITS NATURE. 



17 



with the belief that it is attainable, is the indispen- 
sable condition of efficient action. 

rV. Whatever our present condition and circum- 
stances may be, there is no presumption in our 
indulging the expectation of attaining to entire per- 
fection in holiness, provided correspondmg provisions 
are made in the gospel, and God himself has prom- 
ised thus to sanctify us. If Christ has promised to 
guard us against all temptation, we ought to expect 
to be thus kept by him, vs^hatever the temptations may 
be v^hich beset us. If God, on condition of our 
trusting him for this very blessing, has promised to 
" sanctify us wholly," we ought to expect to be thus 
sanctified. In view of such provisions and promises, 
there is no more presumption in expecting perfect, 
than partial sanctification ; since our faith, alike m 
both instances, rests not upon an arm of flesh, but 
upon the grace and power of God. 

V. The question. Whether entire perfection in ho- 
Imess is attainable in this life, depends exclusively 
upon the question. What are the nature and extent 
of the provisions of the gospel for our present sanc- 
tification, and of the " exceeding great and precious 
promises " of divine grace ? In pm'suing our in- 
quu'ies in respect to this question, we are to look 
away from our condition and circumstances as sin- 
ners, and from our natural powers as moral agents, 
to the provisions and promises of the grace of God. 
If the "riches of Christ's inheritance in the saints" 
comprehends their entire sanctification in this life, 
we certainly are under obligations infinite to possess 
o # 



18 



CHRISTIAir FERFECTIOJf. 



that inheritaDce in all its fulness. Are you, Chris- 
tian, prepared to enter upon the investigation of the 
subject before us, with the simple inquiry, What has 
God provided for and promised to me, as a Christian? 
When will the Church be agam able to say, "We 
have known and believed the love which the Father 
hath unto us " ? 

VL Finally, Inasmuch as entire perfection in 
holiness is required of us, not only in the law, but 
also m the gospel, and is a ceaseless demand of our 
being, we are under complete obligation to approach 
the inquiiy, Whether the doctrine, that such perfec- 
tion is attainable in this life, is contamed in the Bible, 
with the hope of findmg it there. To this inquiry 
the attention of the reader wiU be dkected in the 
following discourse. 



DISCOURSE II« 



PERFECTION IN HOLINESS ATTAINABLE. 

"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is per* 
feet." — Matt. V. 48. 

The object of the preceding discourse was, to 
illustrate and explain the nature of Christian perfec- 
tion. The object of the present discourse is to an- 
swer the inquiry, « Is such a state attainable in this life ? " 
to ascertain the fact, whether it is practicable for us, as 
Christians, to consecrate our entire being, vnth all its 
powers and susceptibilities, to Christ, and to live under 
th^ continual influence of the all-pervading and all-con-^ 
trolling principle of pure and perfect love — " of faith on 
the Son of Godr 

I use the terms attainable and practicable with 
reference not merely to oiu- powers as moral agents, 
but also with respect to the provisions and promises 
of divine grace. If provision is made in the gospel 
for the entire sanctification of believers in this life, 
if God has promised to render those "perfect in 
every good work to do his will," by whom he is 
inquired of by faith to do it for them,— then is such a 
state, in the highest and most common acceptation 
of the term, attamable ; and we are under the most 

* Parts of this and the following Discourse have already been 
before the public in another form. 



20 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



sacred obligation to aim at that state, with the full 
and joyful expectation of attaining it. 

The question now returns — Is perfection in holi- 
ness, in the sense of the term as above explained, 
attamable in this life ? That it is attainable, I argue 
from the following reasons : — 

L The Bible positively affirms that provision is 
made in the gospel for the attainment of that state, 
and that to make such provision is one of the great 
objects of Christ's redemption. Rom. viii. 3, 4, " For 
what the law could not do, in that it was weak through 
the flesh, God, sending his own Son, in the likeness 
of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the 
flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be 
fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after 
the spirit." The phrase " righteousness of the law " 
obviously means the precepts of the law, or the 
moral rectitude which the law requires. This 1 
argue, 1st. From the fact that the same phrase is 
undeniably used in this sense in the preceding part 
of the epistle, chap. ii. 26 ; " If the circumcision keep 
the righteousness [the precepts] of the law." With- 
out the best of reasons, we should not suppose the 
apostle to use the same phrase, in entirely diflerent 
senses, in the same epistle. 2d. Justification, the 
only other sense ever, I believe, attributed to the 
phrase under consideration, is never in the Bible 
called the justification of the law, but is definitely 
distinguished from it, by being called "justification 
by faith." 3d. If justification were the thing 
primarily referred to in this phrase, still the moral 
rectitude required by the law, i. e. sanctification, is 



ATTAINABLE. 



21 



also implied in it. For, if Christ should justify, and 
not to the same extent sanctify his people, he would 
save them in, and not from their sins. The phrase 
"righteousness of the law," then, directly and pri- 
marily means, or obviously implies, the precepts of 
the law, or the moral rectitude required by the law. 
To have this righteousness fulfilled in us, implies, 
that it be perfectly accomplished in us, or, that we are 
brought into perfect conformity to the moral rectitude 
required by the law. This is declared to be one of tiw 
great objects of Christ's death. Such conformity, 
then, is practicable to the Christian, or Christ failed 
to accomplish one of the prime purposes of his 
redemption. 

Again, 1 Pet. ii. 24, " Who his own self bare our 
sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead 
to sins, might live unto righteousness." To be dead 
to sin, and alive unto righteousness, implies entire 
sanctification, or, to be dead in sin, does not imply 
total depravity. That we might be thus dead, and 
thus alive, Christ " bore our sins in his own body on 
the tree." Entire sanctification, then, is attainable, 
or Christ failed, in one important respect, to finish 
the work which his Father " gave him to do." 

2 Cor. V. 15, " And he died for all, that they which 
live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but 
unto him that died for them, and rose again." In 
other words, Christ died that his people might be 
fi-ee from all selfishness, and become purely and per- 
fectly benevolent. Did he fail to accomplish his 
work? 

2 Pet. i. 4, " Whereby are given unto us exceeding 
great and precious promises ; that by these ye might 



22 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the 
corruption that is in the world through lust." 

2 Cor. vii. 1, "Having therefore these promises, 
dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all fil- 
thiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in 
the fear of God." If to " escape the corruption that 
is in the v^orld through lust," and to be " made partakers 
of the divine nature," to " cleanse om'selves fi'om all 
filth iness of the flesh and spnit," and to "perfect 
holiness," do not imply entire sanctification, how^, 1 
ask, can that doctrine be expressed ? That the Chris- 
tian may be thus sanctified is the declared object for 
which the promises were given. Who will deny that 
they are adequate to this object ? Unless they are thus 
inadequate, perfection in holiness is, in this life, 
practicable to the Christian. 

Under this head I might cite many other passages, 
equally to my purpose ; but these must suffice. On 
these and other kindi*ed passages, I have one remark 
to make, to which the special attention of the reader 
is invited. It is this — We have the same evidence 
, from the Bible, that provision is made for the entu*e 
sanctification of Christians, that we have that provision 
is made for their enXirQ justification. Any principles of 
interpretation that will show that provision is not 
made for the former, will be equally conclusive to 
show that it is not made for the latter. 

n. Perfection in holiness is promised to the Chris 
tian in the new covenant under which he is now 
placed. To present this part of the subject distinct 
ly before the reader's mind, we will first inquire what 
is the old or first covenant. 



ATTAINABLE. 



23 



Exod. xxxiv. 27, 28, " And the Lord said unto Moses, 
Write thou these words ; for after the tenor of these 
words have I made a covenant with thee and with 
Israel. And he was there with the Lord forty days 
and forty nights ; he did neither eat bread nor drink 
water. And he vsrote upon the tables the words of 
the covenant, the ten commandments." Deut. ix. 11, 
15, "And it came to pass at the end of forty days and 
forty nights, that the Lord gave me the two tables of 
stone, even the tables of the covenant." " So I turned, 
and came down from the mount, and the mount 
burned with fire ; and the two tables of the covenant 
were in my hands." The first, or the old covenant, 
then, is the moral law, that law by which we are re- 
quired to " love the Lord our God with all our powers, 
and our neighbor as ourselves." This covenant, as 
we learn from Heb. ix. 1 — 4, had annexed to it the 
types and shadows of the ancient dispensation. 
" Then verily the first covenant had " attached to it 
"ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanc- 
tuary," &c. 

What the neiv covenant is, we learn from Jer. xxxi. 
31—34, and Heb. viii. 8—11, "Behold the days 
come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new cov- 
enant with the house of Israel and with the house of 
Judah; not according to the covenant that I made 
with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the 
hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt ; (which 
my covenant they brake, although I was a husband 
unto them, saith the Lord ;) but this shall be the cov- 
enant that I will make with the house of Israel : After 
those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their 
inward parts, and write it in their hearts ; and I will 



24 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



be their God, and they shall be my people. And they 
shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and 
every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord ; for 
they shall all know me, from the least of them unto 
the greatest of them, saith the Lord ; for I will forgive 
their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no 
more." 

The following blessings, specifically promised in 
this covenant, demand our special attention — 1. A 
confii*med state of pure and perfect holiness, such as 
the first covenant, or moral law, demands — "I will 
put my law in then- inward parts, and write it in their 
hearts." 2. The pardon of all sin, or perfect justifi- 
cation — "I will forgive their iniquity, and I will 
remember their sins no more." 3. The perpetual 
fruition of the divine presence and favor — "I will be 
their God, and they shall be my people." 4. The 
general spread of the gospel among mankind — "All 
shall know me." 

We will now notice the relations of these two cov- 
enants. 

1. The same standard of character, perfect holiness^ 
is common to both. 

2. What the old covenant requires of Christians, the 
new promises to them. For example ; 

1st. The old covenant requires perfect holiness. Its 
language is, "Thou shalt be perfect vnth the Lord thy 
God;" "He that keepeth the whole law, and yet 
offendeth in one point, is guilty of all." 

On the other hand, the new covenant, j^romises to the 
believer perfect holiness. Jer. xxxi. 32, "But this 
shall be the covenant that Twill make with the house 
of Israel : After those days, saith the Lord, I will put 



ATTAINABLE. 



25 



my law in their inward parts, and write it in their 
hearts; uiul 1 will he their Gud, and iht'V shall he my 
people." See also lleh. viii. 10. Here, as ahove re- 
marked, the very thin^' which the moral law re(|uires 
is positively promisi'd to the heliever. Ezek. xxwi. 
25 — 27, "Then will 1 sj)rinkle clean water upon you, 
and ye shall he clean : fn ni all Vdur filthiness, and 
from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart 
also will 1 irive you, and a new spiiil will 1 put with- 
in you; and I will take away the stony heart out of 
your flesh, iuid 1 will ^nve you a heart ui' tlesh. And 
1 will j)ut my spirit wiiliin you, and cause you to 
walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judf^ments, 
and do them." Is it in the power of lam:ua«re to ex- 
])ress the doctrine of entire sanctificatiun, il' it is not 
here expressed ? 

Jer. 1.20, *'In those days, and at that lime, saith the 
Lord, the inicpiity of Israel shall he suuizht for, and 
there shall he none; and the sins of Judali, and they 
shall not be found; for 1 will pardun them whom I 
reserve." What other thought, let me ask, is such 
language adapted to ?onvey hut this, — a state of 
entire sanctification ? 

Deut. XXX. (), "And the Lord thy God will circum- 
cise thine heart, aiid the heart of thy seed, to love the 
Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy 
soul, that thou mayest live." Here the perfect holi- 
ness required by the law, is promised in the very 
words of the law itself. 

Again, 2d. The old covenant or moral law requires 
not only perfect^ hut perpetual holiness. Gal. iii. 10, 
" Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things 
which are written in the book of the law to do them." 
3 



26 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



The new covenant, on the other hand, promises 
not only perfect but perpetual holhiess. Jer. xxxii. 
30, 40, "And I will give them one heart, and one 
way, that they may fear me forever, for the good of 
them, and of their childi'en after them. And I w^ill 
make an everlasting covenant with them, that I v^ill 
not turn away from them, to do them good ; but I will 
put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart 
from me." If, to give to Christians one heart and 
one way, that they may fear God forever, and never 
depart from him, does not imply, not only perfect, 
but perpetual holiness, v^e may truly say, that lan- 
guage cannot express that idea. 

Ezek. xxxvii. 23, " Neither shall they defile them- 
selves any more with their idols, nor w^ith their 
detestable things, nor with any of their transgres- 
sions." Every one will perceive, that if the Holy 
Spirit has not here given us the promise, not only of 
perfect, but perpetual holiness, he has made as near an 
approach to it as is in the power of language to make, 
and that if he had designed to express that promise, 
no stronger language could possibly have been used. 

The same truth is taught with equal distinctness 
in Isa. lix. 21, and Luke i. 74, 75, "As for me, this is 
my covenant with them, saith the Lord : My Spirit 
which is ui)on thee, and my words which I have put 
in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor 
out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth 
of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth 
and Ibrcver." "That he would grant unto us, that 
we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, 
niiglit serve him without fear, in holiness and righ- 
teousness before him, all the days of our life." 



ATTAINABLE. 



27 



1 cile but one otlier passage under this head — a 
passage, which, if we had none others of ll^e kind iu 
the Bible, would place the doctrine under considera- 
tion upon an eternal rock. 1 Tlies. v. 23, 24, " And 
the very God of peace sanctily you wholly ; and I 
pray God your whole spirit, and soul, and body, be 
preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who 
also w ill do it." Here we have, 1. A prayrr for i)er- 
feet and })erpetual holiness, dictated by the direct 
inspiration ol* the Spirit oi* God. Who can believe 
that the Holy S])irit has dictated a prayer which is 
not "according to the will of God," and which he 
requires us to believe that God will never answer by 
the bestowment of the bl< -sing " desired of him"? 
2. We have tlie positive dt claration of God himself; 
that this blessii g, when asked in faith, shall be grant- 
ed — " Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will 
do it." On the promises of Scripture, as thus pre- 
sented — I remark, 

1. That we have evidence just as conclusive, that 
perfect and perpetual holiness is promised to Chris- 
tians, as we have that it is required of them. Any 
principles of interpretation that would prove that the 
former is not promised, would be equally conclusive 
to show^ that the latter is not required. 

2. We have the same evidence from Scripture, 
that all Christians may, and that some of them will, 
attain to a state of entire sanctification in this life, 
that we have that they will attain to that state in 
heaven. No passages can be adduced which more 
positively affirm the latter than the former. Any 
principles of interpretation that will show that such 



28 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



passages as I have cited, and shall hereafter cite, do 
not provQ the practicability of perfect holiness here, 
will anihilate all evidence that heaven itself is a state 
of perfect and perpetual purity. 

An objection, deservmg a passing notice, is some- 
times brought to the view of the new covenant here 
given. This covenant, it is said, is applicable to the 
Jews only. To this position I reply, 

1st. That to the converted Jew, at least, entire 
sanctification is undeniably attainable. Why deny it 
to other Christians ? 

2d. Christ is the Mediator of the new covenant. 
Does he, as Mediator, sustain one relation to the Jew- 
ish, and another to the Gentile Christian? Has he 
not "broken down the wall of partition between 
them," and made both one ? 

3d. In Eph. iii. 6, and elsewhere, we learn that the 
Gentiles have become "fellow-heirs," and "of the 
same body," and partakers of the same promise with 
the Jews. 

4th. The promise, fi'om Thessalonians, above 
cited, is expressly addressed to all Christians, with- 
out discrimination. 

in. I mfer that a state of perfect holiness is 
attainable in this life, from the commands of Scrip- 
ture, addressed to Christians under the new covenant. 
I refer here, not merely to the fact, that perfect holi- 
ness is required of Christians, but to the manner and 
circumstances in which these commands are given. A 
general sends to a subordinate officer a despatch 
containing several distinct and specific requisitions. 
The officer selects one of these requirdtions, given in 



ATTAINABLE. 



29 



the same maimer aiul circumstances as all tlie rest, 
and utTirms, that his commander never exi)ected 
obedience to this command, and that it would be 
crimii»al to suppose he did. What would be thought 
of such a conclusion ? In the light of this illustration 
let us first contemplates the command of Christ, 
Matt. V. 48, "He ye tlierelbre perfect, even as your 
Father in heaven is perfect," To every other precept 
found in this discourse, all admit lhat ol)edience is 
not only recpiired, but expected. On what authority, 
1 ask, is this one precept selected from the midst of 
such requisitions, as the solitary command to which 
obedience is not expected — a command clothed in 
similar languaire, given at the same time, and under 
the same circnnistMnci's ns all tli** others anionL' u Inch 
it is Ibund : 

Again, ("«>r. \m. 11, " I'inally, lueihren, liirewell. 
i5e perfect, be of gooti comfort, be of one mind, live 
in peace; and the God of love and peace shall \ye 
with you.'' Why except the first of these precepts, 
and maintain that obedience to all the rest is expect- 
ed ? How could tlie expectations of the Spirit be 
more cleiu*ly indicated, respecting the precept, " Be 
perfect," tlian by clustering it, in this inamier, with 
other precepts, in respect to which we know that 
such expectations exist ? 

2 Cor. vii. 1, " Having, theretbre, these promises, 
dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filth- 
iness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in 
the fear of God." — Who would dare affirm to the 
Christian that what he is here exhorted and com- 
manded to do, he never can nor will do, and that it 
is heresv for him to expect it ? 



30 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



1 Tim. vi. 13, 14, " I give thee charge, in the sight 
of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Jesus 
Christ, who, before Pontius Pilate, witnessed a good 
confession, that thou keep this commandment with- 
out spot, unrebukable, until the appearing of our 
Lord Jesus Christ." The command here referred to, 
as any one will see, who will read the context, in- 
cludes every thing required of Christians. Let us 
suppose that Timothy had answered this epistle, in- 
forming Paul that he had read his charge with solemn 
interest, and that, by the grace of God, he expected 
to keep it. What should we think, if, in Paul's sec- 
ond epistle, such a rejoinder as this were found: — 
"Timothy, your letter to me has filled me with 
amazement and sorrow of heart. You have become 
a wild fanatic — a Perfectionist How could you have 
misunderstood me so much, as to suppose that I ever 
di-eamed that you would expect to keep that avrful 
charge ? " Why should we be shocked at such a re- 
ply? Simply because we cannot believe that such a 
charge could be dictated by the Spirit of God, not 
only in the absence of all expectation that it would 
be kept, but with the intention of impressing the 
subject with the opposite belief. 

rV. I argue, that perfection in holiness is attaina- 
ble in this life, from the fact, that the attainment of 
this state in this life is the declared object for which 
the Holy Spirit dwells in the hearts of God's people, 
and for which all the gifts that Christ bestowed upon 
the church when he ascended up on high, were con- 
ferred. Eph. iii. 14—21, " For this cause I bow my 
knoes unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of 



ATTAINABLE. 



31 



whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 
that he would grant you, according to the riches of 
his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit 
in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your 
hearts by faith ; that ye, being rooted and grounded 
in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints 
what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and 
height ; and to know the love of Christ, which pass- 
eth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the 
fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do 
exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, 
according to the power that worketh in us, unto him 
ue glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout 
all ages, world without end. Amen." Also Eph. iv. 
11 — 16, " And he gave some, apostles ; and some, 
prophets ; and some, evangelists ; and some, pastors 
and teachers ; for the perfecting of the saints, for the 
work of the ministry, for the edifjdng of the body of 
Christ ; till we all come in the unity of the faith, and 
of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect 
man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness 
of Christ ; that w^e henceforth be no more children, 
tossed to and fro, and carried about with eveiy wind 
of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craft- 
iness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive ; but, speak- 
ing the truth in love, may grow" up into him in all 
things, which is the head, even Christ : from whom 
the whole body, fitly joined together and compacted 
by that which every joint supplieth, according to the 
effectual working in the measure of every part, mak- 
eth increase of the body imto the edifying of itself in 
love." — To be " filled with all the fulness of God " 
implies, unquestionably, that we be put in possession 



^2 CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. | 

of all the moral perfections of God, as far as finite can l| i 
resemble infinite ; which can be nothing less than ! 
entire perfection in holiness. The same thing is, with 
equal maiiifestness, implied in the phrases " unity of 
the faith," "unto a perfect man," and "unto the ; 
measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." | 
Verses 14 — 16, chap, iv., make it undeniably evident 
that these passages are to be understood with refer- ; 
ence to this life. Now, that Christians may attain to 
this state of perfect holiness, is the declared object 
for which the Holy Spirit is here represented as ; 
dwelling in the hearts of God's people, and for which • 
the ministry of reconciliation, &c., was conferred up- | 
on the church, by our Savior, when he " ascended i 
up on high, and gave gifts unto men." Thus Christ } 
expressly adapted means to an end, which means are j 
inadequr.te to that end ? If not, perfection in holiness j 
is not only to be regarded as attainable, but to be 
expected, in tljis life. 

V. As a fifth argument in favor of the attainable- 
ness of entire sanctification in this life, we will now ! 
consi(ier the prayer dictated by our Savior to his 
disciples, together with the one put up by him, in j 
behalf ol* the church, on the evening preceding his 
crucifixion. Who can believe that Christ has dictated i 
a standing petition for the church, which he requires 
her to believe that it is not for the glory of God to 
answr ? Matt. vi. 10, " Thy will be done on earth 
as it is in heaven." That this is a prayer for perfec- 
tion in holiness, none, I presume, will deny. From 
the fact that Christ dictated this petition, I infer, 1st, 
Tlini tlir object of this petition is agreeable to th© i 



ATTAINABLE. 



33 



will of God, and consequently that when the church 
puts up the petition in faith, she will be heard, and 
will have the petition which she desired of him. 2d, 
That in the petition we have the pledge of Christ 
that it shall be granted when asked in faith, just as 
the petition, " Thy kingdom come," contains a pledge 
that that kingdom shall come. 

Again, John xvii. 20 — ^23, " Neither pray I for these 
alone, but for them also which shall believe on me 
through their word ; that they all may be one ; as 
thou. Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also 
may be one in us ; that the world may believe that 
thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest 
me I have given them ; that they may be one, even 
as we are one ; I in them, and thou in me ; that they 
may be made perfect in one ; and tliat tlie world may 
know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, 
as thou hast loved me." 

On this passage, I remark, 1st, That the miion here 
prayed for is a union of perfect love — "As thou, Fa- 
ther, art in me, and I in thee." In other words, per- 
fection in holiness is the object of this prayer. 2d, 
The salvation of the world is declared to be suspend- 
ed upon the existence of this love among believers — 
" That the world may believe and know that thou 
hast sent me." Consequently, we must admit that 
this love and consequent imion will exist among be- 
lievers, or maintain, 1st, Tl](at Christ, at that solemn 
hour, prayed for that which he requires us to believe 
that it is not for the glory of God to bestow upon his 
children. 2d, That the world are never to believe in 
Christ Christian, ponder this prayer, and then ask 



34 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTIO.>. 



yourself if you can believe, or dare affirm, that this 
love shall never, in this life, exist in your heart 

VL J argue, that perfection in holiness is attainable 
in this life, and that the sacred writers intended to 
teach the doctrine, from the fact, that inspu*ed men 
made the attainment of this pai'ticular state the 
subject of deliiiite, fervent, and constant prayer. 

Col. iv. 12, " Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant 
of Christ, saluteth you, always laboring fervently for 
you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete 
'm .til the will of God." Heb. xiii. 20, 21, «Now the 
God of peace, that brought again from the dead the 
Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through 
th*^ blood of the everlasting covenant, make you per- 
fect in every good work to do his will, working in you 
that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus 
Christ." The prayer of the apostle in 1 Thes. v. 23, 
is also distinctly before the reader's mind — "The 
very God of peace sanctify you wholly," &c. On 
these and kindred passages I remark, 

1. Such prayers are in perfect conformity with the 
prayer of Christ himself in behalf of his church, as 
recorded in John xvii. 20 — 23, and cited above. 
Tiiey are also in conformity with the standing petition 
which Christ dictated to his church — "Thy will be 
done on earth as it is done in heaven." 

2. All such prayers were dictated by direct in- 
spiration of the Holy Spirit. Now, in Rom. viii. 27, 
we learn, that the "Spirit maketh intercession for the 
saints according to the will of God." In 1 John v. 
14, 15, we also learn, that " this is the confidence that 



ATTAINABLE. 



35 



we have in him, [Christ,] that if we ask any thing 
according to his will, he heareth us. And if we know 
that he hear us, we know that whatsoever we ask, we 
have the petitions that we desired of him." Have 
we not, then, proof positive, that when we pray, and 
pray in faith, for perfect holmess, that blessing will be 
bestowed upon us ? Is it possible, reader, for us to 
believe, that Christ himself prayed, and taught his 
church to pray, and the Holy Spirit inspired and 
influenced apostles and saints to pray, for a blessing 
which the Scriptures require us to believe God will 
not bestow upon his people ? 

3. Let us suppose that God has revealed to us the 
fact, that he has made no provision for the bestow- 
ment of a certam blessing upon us ; that whatever our 
prayers, intentions, and efforts actually may be, infinite 
wisdom has unchangeably determined to withhold 
the grace necessary to its attainment in this life. 
Would it be proper for us, under such ckcumstances, 
to pray for that blessing ? What would such a prayer 
be, less than a request that God w^ould reverse the 
revealed dictates of infinite wisdom ? In what other 
. light shall we regard the prayers of inspired men for 
the perfect holiness of Christians, on the supposition 
that God had revealed to them the fact, that no pro- 
visions were made in the gospel for the bestowment 
of that blessing ; that he had irreversibly determined 
not to confer the grace necessary to its attainment, 
whatever the prayers and efforts of his people actually 
might be ; and that it is a dangerous error for them to 
suppose the opposite ? Is not the fact, that inspired 
men prayed thus fervently and constantly for this 
t^lessing, the highest possible evidence that they re 



36 



CHBISTIAN PERFECTION. 



garded the attainment of the blessing as coming 
within the range of the provisions and promises of 
divine grace ? 

Vn. 1 infer that perfect holiness is attainable in this 
life, from the many promises of Scripture which are 
conditioned on this state. For example; Isa. xxvi. 
3, " Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind 
is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee." Matt, 
vi. 22, " If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole 
body shall be full of light." 2 Cor. xiii. 11, " Be 
perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in 
peace ; and the God of love and peace shall be with 
you." Phil. iv. 6, 7, "Be careful for nothing; but in 
every thing by prayer and supplication, with thanks- 
giving, let your requests be made known unto God. 
And the peace of God, which passeth all under- 
standing, shall keep your hearts and minds, through 
Christ Jesus." All the blessings promised in such 
passages, of which the Bible is full, are conditioned, 
directly or indirectly, on the existence of perfect 
holiness in the subject. When, for example, God 
promises "perfect peace to those whose minds are 
stayed on him," the condition of the promise is, of 
course, perfect faith, or confidence ; because the 
want of such confidence would forfeit the blessing, 
or render the enjoyment of it an impossibility. So 
also the " single eye," the command, " be perfect," 
and "be careful for nothing," &c., directly require the 
same thing, or a state of perfect holiness. Does God 
promise to his people, in this life, blessings of infuiite 
value, upon conditions which he requires them tc 
regard as impracticable? What is this but the most 



ATTAINABLE. 



37 



sokinii iiiuckL i} coiun ivable ? A parent continually 
holds b« lore liis eliiltlren promises of the richest 
hl('ssin<,^s ill his power to bestow, but all pledged upon 
conditions with which fie holds it criminal in them 
to believe they wdl e\( r comply. What would be 
ihoui^lit or such a parent ? Shall we charge such 
conduct upon (iod r 

Jii n'\)\\ to the above argument, it is sometimes said 
that Ciu isiians do rxperience tiie fuhihnent of these 
promises in proportion to their fidelity. Very true, 1 
n ply. This liicl, however, does not in the least di- 
nnnisii the Ibrce of the argument, as above stated. 
(iod does hohl out the richest blessings uj)on the 
di'llnite condition of perii'ct holiness in us. Now if, 
as is true, accortiing to the common theory, he requires 
us to beheve tiiat these l)h*ssings are proffered upon 
a condition with which we shall not comply, what is 
this, 1 ask again, but the most solemn mockery con- 
ceivabh' ? 

VIII. 1 argue, tliat perfection in holiness is attain- 
able in this lile, from the testimony of Scripture that 
some did attain to Tli.it state. On this subject I 
remark, 

1. That from wliat the sacred writers have left on 
record in respect to the provisions and promises of 
divine grace, I'rom their prayers, exhortations, precepts, 
&:c., in respect to this identical subject ; in short, from 
the fact that this particular subject was the special 
tlieme of their meihtations, discourses, and prayers, 
we ought to conclude, in the absence of positive proof 
to the contrary, tliat they did attain to this state; just 
as, in llie absence of evidence to the contrary, we 
4 



38 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTIOI^. 



ought to conclude that they died in the triumphs of 
faith. 

2. The fact, that some of them are said to have 
fallen into sin in some particular instances, is no ev- 
idence at all, that they did not subsequently attain to 
a state of entire sanctification, any more than the sins 
of Paul previous to his conversion are proof of his 
w^ant of holiness subsequent to that event. 

3. There is no positive evidence on record, that 
many of those men did not attain to this state, any 
more than there is, that they did not "die in faith." 

4. There is, on the other hand, positive evidence ! 
that some of them did attain to this state. To show 
this, I begin with the character of Paul, as drawn by j 
the pen of inspiration. In respect to this apostle, 1 | 
remark, 1. That there is but one act of his entire • 
Cliristian life, on record, which is of a doubtful \ 
character. 1 refer to his controversy with Barnabas. I 
2. With this exception, — and whether it be an excep- ; 
tion, is, to say the least, doubtful, — his character, as i 
presented by the sacred historian, is "perfect and ! 
entire, wanting nothing." 3. The testimony of the : 
apostle to his own attainments, shows that he had ! 
arrived to a state of entire sanctification. Gal. ii. 20, 
"1 am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet j 
not 1, but Christ liveth in me ; and the life which 1 
now live in the flesh, I live by faith on the Son of 
God." 1 Thes. ii. 10, "Ye are witnesses, and God 
also, how holily, and justly, and unblamably, we | i 
behaved ourselves among you that believe." 1 Cor. j ] 
iv. 4, " I know nothing by myself," i. e., I am conscious I | 
of no wrong. Acts xx. 26, "Wherefore I take you to t 
record this day, that 1 am pure of the blood of all men." ' i 



ATTAIAABLE. 



39 



Now, who would dare to apply such language to 
himself; who was conscious of beuig in any other 
than a state of entire consecration to Christ? How 
can he be "pure of the blood of all men," who is 
constantly faihng in his duty? And we do fail in our 
duty to men, when we are not wholly consecrated to 
Christ How can he be conscious of no wrong, and 
affirm of himself that he lives "hohly, and justly, and 
unblamably," not in the sight of men merely, but also 
in the sight of God, who is conscious of daily and 
hourly departures from the rectitude required by the 
gospel ? Who, let me ask, in view of the character 
of Paul, as drawn by the pen of inspiration, and of 
his own testimony to his own attainments, will dare 
to lay sin to his charge, or affirm that he did not arrive 
to a state of perfect consecration to Christ ? 

Further, the apostle presents himself as an exam- 
ple for the imitation of Christians, requiring and ex- 
horting them to copy that example, without any 
intimation, that, in so doing, they will not discharge 
their whole duty. Phil. iv. 9, " Those things which 
ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and 
seen in me, do ; and the God of peace shall be with 
you." Phil. iii. 17, "Brethren, be ye followers 
together of me, and mark them which walk so, as 
ye have us for an ensample." 1 Cor. xi. ], "Be ye 
followers of me, even as I also am of Christ;" i. e., 
Be ye imitators of me, inasmuch as I am an imitator 
of Christ. Now, who would dare to address such 
language to Christians, unless he was conscious of 
presenting to them a perfect pattern for their imita- 
tion ? Such, then, was Paul. If he did not claim to 
have been in a state of entire sanctification, I know 



40 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



not by what language such a claim can be ex- 
pressed. 

Again, 1 John iii. '21, and iv. 17, 18, "Beloved, if 
our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence 
toward God." "Herein is our love made perfect, that 
we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because 
as he is, so are we in this world." "There is no fear 
in love, but perfect love casteth out fear." Who can 
read such declarations, without the conviction that the 
apostle is here speaking of what he knew to be true 
from actual experience? Was he a stranger to a 
heart that doth not condemn, and its effects, and to 
perfect love, and its consequences ? Is he not testi- 
fying as a witness to what his own consciousness 
affirmed to be a reality? 

If the "one hundred and forty and four thousand 
also, who follow the Lamb whithersoever he goetii," 
are not declared. Rev. xiv. 4, 5, to have attained to 
perfect holiness in this life, I have failed to divine the 
meaning of the passage. "These are they who were 
not defiled with women, for they are virgins." "And 
in their mouth was found no guile ; for they are with- 
out fault before the throne of God." The phrase 
"they are without fault" evidently relates to their 
character as Christians in this hfe ; because the con- 
junction "for" connects this with the preceding part 
of the sentence, the meaning of which is perfectly 
evident ; also, because the reason is here assigned for 
their preeminent glory in heaven. All this may be 
said to be mere hyperbole. I will not, therefore, in- 
sist u[)on it. The same principle, however, would be 
equally ai)i)licable to any phraseology that could have 
been adopted. 



ATTAINABLE. 



41 



Isa. vL 5 — 8, " Then said I, Wo is me ! for I am 
undone ; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I 
dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips ; for 
mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. 
Then flew one of the seraphim mito me, having a 
live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the 
tongs from off the altar. And he laid it on my mouth, 
and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips ; and thine 
iniquity is taken away, and thy sin is purged," 

Previous to this event, the prophet had at least some 
degree of holiness. What was his state subsequently, 
when "his iniquity was taken away, and his sin 
purged"? Was it a little higher degree of holiness 
than he before possessed ? Was it not, as the lan- 
guage used implies, a state of perfect holiness ? 

Other cases might be cited ; but these must suffice. 

IX. I argue that perfection in holiness is attain- 
able in this life, from the fact, that no one can point 
out any incentive to sin, from within or around him, 
for which a specific remedy is not provided in the 
gospel. Do our lusts rebel ? We are told, that if 
"Christ be in us, the body is dead because of sin;" 
that " the old man is crucified with him ; " and that if 
we will " walk in the spirit, we shall not fulfil the 
lusts of the flesh." Do the world and Satan entice ? 
We ai-e assured that "this is the victory that over- 
cometh the world, even our faith ; " that " stronger is 
he that is in us, than he that is in the world ; " and 
that, when we have " put on the whole armor of 
God," we shall be able, with the shield of faith, to 
" quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one." In 
short, from whatever source temptation to sin arises, 
4* 



42 



CHRISTIAN! PERFECTION. 



we are assured that God will not "suffer us to be 
tenii)ted above what we are able," but will, "with the 
temptation, make way for our escape." With Christ 
within us, and these "exceeding great and precious 
Ifromises " around us, we are commanded to " reckon 
ourselves dead indeed to sin, and alive unto God 
through our Lord Jesus Christ." In the presence of 
such facts and promises, who would dare to say to the 
Christian, It is im])racticable for you to "cleanse 
yourself from all filth iness of the flesh, and sph'it. 
perfecting holiness hi the fear of God " ? 

X. 1 argue that perfection in holiness is attain- 
able in this life, from the fact, that no one can lay 
down any line this side of that state, beyond which 
it is not practicable for the Christian to go. Who 
would dare to lay down such a line, and then say to 
the convert, panting after holiness, "As the hart pant- 
eth after the water-brooks," "Hitherto niayest thou 
come, and no farther?" 

XI. As another argument in favor of the attain- 
ableness of holiness in this life, I adduce the striking 
contrast between the language of inspiration and of 
the church upon this subject, wherever the church 
has denied the doctrine under consideration. 1 
appeal to the conscience and memory of every one 
who reads these pages, whether from the pulpit, the 
press, or the private walks of life, as far as this 
doctrine has been denied, you have ever heard lan- 
guage which corresponds with the plain, positive, 
and un(pialified declarations of the Bible upon this 
subject, which have now been spread out before you. 



ATTAINABLE. 



43 



Why this contrast between the language of inspira- 
tion and of the church ? One supposition, and one 
only, in my judgment, solves the mysteiy. The 
church and the sacred writers hold different sen- 
timents upon this subject. 

Let any minister, for example, holding the com- 
mon sentiments upon this subject, begin, in the 
simple and unqualified language of inspiration, to 
pray that his people may be " sanctified wholly, and 
preserved in that state unto the coming of our Lord 
Jesus Christ ; " let him charge them, " before God 
and our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep the command- 
ments of God without spot, unrebukable, until the 
appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ;" let him begin 
to talk of the perfect peace, of pure and perfect love ; 
let him tell his people that the blood of Christ 
"cleanseth from all sin," and that he "bore our sins 
in his own body on the tree ; " that we, being dead to 
sin, might live unto righteousness ; " that the " right- 
eousness of the law might be fulfilled in us," &c.,— 
what would his church and congregation think of 
him ? Would they not conclude that he had adoi)ted 
some entirely new theory in regard to Christian per- 
fection ? I ask again. Why has the language of the 
Bible so entirely disappeared, so far as this doctrine 
is denied ? and why is it, that, as soon as this doctrine 
is adopted, the simple and expressive language of the 
Bible reappears, as the only language appropriate to 
express the sentiments of the preacher and the church. 

Xn. The convictions of the church, as universally 
expressed in her covenants, demand the admission of 
the attainableness of perfect holiness in this Hfe. 1 



44 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



have never, that I recollect, read or heard of such a 
covenant, which did not pledge its members to a 
state of entu'e sanctification. Eveiy one, in the 
presence of God, angels, and men, and that mider 
the sanction of the most solemn oath, avouches the 
Lord to be his God, promising to obey him in all 
things, and none else, to " deny himself of all ungod- 
liness, and every worldly lust, and to live soberly, and 
righteously, and godly, in this present evil vrorld." 
This is nothing less than a pledge to " be perfect," 
and no church dares to pledge her members to do 
less than this. 

Yet while this pledge is thus solemnly imposed 
upon all her members, they are required, under sanc- 
tions hardly less awful, to believe that this pledge 
will never be redeemed, and that it is a crime to sup- 
pose that it may. All this is done in the face of an 
acknowledged divine declaration — " It is better that 
thou shouldst not vow, than to vow and not pay.'* 
Now, why has the Holy Spu*it thus constrained the 
church to pledge her members in du'ect opposition 
to her creed? To open her eyes to the absurdity 
and ruinous tendency of her creed, in respect to the 
subject under consideration. Such is my solemn con- 
viction. The churches of Christ are bound funda- 
mentally to change their covenants, or admit the 
doctrine under consideration. 

XIII. The tendency of this doctrine, as compared 
with that of its opposite, is another important reason 
why we should admit it. To place this part of the 
suljject distinctly before the mind, 1 remark— 

1. That, as it was obsei*ved in the preceding dis- 



ATTAI^^ABLE. 



45 



course, no evil can result from the belief of this 
doctrine, provided we keep the true standard of 
holiness distinctly in view. Christ requires us to 
consecrate to him our entire being. What evil can 
result from the belief that we may do this, provided 
we understand what this requirement is? All the 
evil that has ever arisen, connected with this doc- 
trine, can be demonstrated to have arisen, not from 
the belief that perfection in holiness is practicable to 
the Christian, but from a misapprehension of the 
nature of holiness itself. 

2. The belief that perfection in holiness is attain- 
able in this life, involves the very principle that is 
considered necessary to efficient action on every 
other subject. Who would expect an army to fight 
with energy under the impression of inevitable 
defeat ? All acknowledge it to be the duty of the 
Christian to aim at perfection in holiness. How can 
he do this efficiently with the persuasion that such 
perfection is impracticable ? 

3. Eveiy Christian also admits that no one can be 
saved who does not aim at perfection. Now, to aim 
at this state with the belief that it is unattainable, is 
an absolute impossibility. To aim at the accomplish- 
ment of an object, is the same thing as to intend to 
accomplish it How can a man intend to do that 
which he regards as imxpracticable ? Let the hunter, 
for example, if he can, point his weapon at the 
moon, with the intention of hitting it. He will find 
the formation of such intention, with his present 
belief of the power of his weapon, and the distance 
of the object, an impossibihty. Has God required 
the Christian, upon pain of his eternal displeasure> 



46 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



to aim at perfection in holiness, and then required 
him to believe a certain fact, the belief of which 
renders the formation of that intention an impos- 
sibility ? Who can believe it ? The principle before 
us, no one, I believe, at all acquainted v^ith the laws 
of mind, will deny. Whatever a man regards as 
impracticable, or thinks it absolutely certain that he 
never will perform, the changeless laws of mind 
render it impossible for him to aim at, or intend to 
perform. How can a man throw a stone at the sun, 
aiming or intending to hit the sun ? An individual is 
shooting at a mark, with the full belief that no man, 
whatever his natural powers may be, ever did or 
ever will hit that mark. It is an absolute impos- 
sibility that he ever should, witli that belief, intend 
to hit it. For the same reason, while a man regards 
perfection in holiness as impracticable; while he 
believes that no man ever did, oi' ever will, in this 
life, attain to that state, and that it is criminal to 
suppose the opposite, — to aim at perfection in holi- 
ness, or to intend to be perfectly holy, is, then, an 
absolute impossibility. Now, the church universally 
affirms, and ministers every where preach the same 
thing, that no one can be a Christian who does not 
aim at perfection in holiness, or intend to be per- 
fectly holy. The church and the ministry, then, 
almost as universally, hold it criminal for any man 
not to believe a certain fact, to wit, that such per- 
fection is unattainable, the belief of which fact 
renders the existence of such intention an absolute 
impossibility. "Thus have ye made void the law of 
God by your traditions," If a man must aim at per- 
fection in holiness, or he cannot be saved, he must 



ATTAINABLE. 



theoretically or practically believe that such perfec- 
tion is practicable, or he cannot be saved. 

XIV. As a final argument, in favor of the truth of 
the doctrine under consideration, I notice the absurd- 
ity of the common supposition, that the Christian is 
always perfectly sanctified at, or a few minutes before 
death, and never at an earlier period. Two consider- 
ations will place the absurdity of this supposition in 
its proper light — 1st. The grace which sanctifies the 
believer amid the gloom and wreck and distraction 
of dissolving nature, would, if applied, have sanc- 
tified him at an earlier period. 2d. No other reason 
can be assigned for this grace being thus withheld, 
but the supposition that God can be better glorified, 
and his kingdom better advanced by saints partially^ 
than wholly consecrated to their sacred calling. 
Where is the foundation for such an absurdity in the 
Bible ? 

Some objections to the interpretation which has 
been given to the various passages cited in this dis- 
course, demand a passing notice. 

1. The fact, it is said, that provision is made in the 
gospel for the entire sanctification of Christians ; that 
this state is promised to them in the new covenant, 
on condition of their faith ; and that, in view of these 
provisions and promises, perfect holiness is required 
of them, proves merely that such a state is attainahle, 
but not that it is actually attained, I reply, 

1. That my object in citing such passages has 
been, not to show Christians what they are, but what 
they may become ; and thus to lay the foundation for 



48 



CHRISTIA> PERFKCTION. 



the exercise of that faith, by which they may come 
into the full possession of all the " riches of Christ's 
inheritance in the saints." 

2. The maimer in which the sacred writers have 
presented the provisions, promises, and commands of 
the gospel, demonstrates the fact, that they did expect 
Christians to " cleanse themselves from all filthiness 
of the flesh and spirit, and perfect holiness in the fear 
of God " — an expectation precisely the opposite of 
what is now commonly entertained upon the same 
subject. 

3. The supposition, that such men as Paul, for ex- 
ample, knew that provision was made in the gospel 
for their entire sanctification ; that it was promised to 
them in the new covenant, and required of them as 
Chi'istians ; the supposition, I say, that they knew, 
that by simply trusting Christ for this blessing, they 
could enjoy it, and yet withheld the faith necessary 
•to its attainment, is absolutely incredible. It is to 
suppose, that they lived in the habitual and allowed 
indulgence of known sin. The same remark is 
equally applicable to real Christians of every age. 
When they know then- privileges, they will avail 
themselves of them. That they may know their priv- 
ileges, and thus " come out of darkness into God's 
marvellous light," is the great object of this work, 
and of all my prayers and efforts. 

n. The prayer of Christ, recorded in John xvii. 
20 — 23, it is objected, is put up in behalf of all 
Christians without distinction ; and this prayer, in all 
its fidness, must be answered in the experience of 
each Christian, or Christ prayed in vain. In other 



ATTAINABLE. 



49 



words, according to this objection, the union turn 
existing among Cliristians, is all that is implied in 
such language as the following : " That they all may 
be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee ; " 
that "they may be one m us;" that "they maybe 
made perfect in one and the effects produced by 
this union is all that is meant by the pln-ases " that 
the world may believe," and "that the world may 
know," — " that thou hast sent me." 
In reply, I remark — 

1. That the supposition that the union, or rather 
the disunion, now existing among Christians, presents 
a full reflection of all that is implied in the language 
above referred to, renders the Bible the most mimean- 
ing book that ever was written. 

2. The supposition that Clirist prayed for any 
higher union than now exists, involves all the difficul- 
ties embraced in the supposition that he prayed for 
a perfect union. In both instances alilie, according 
to the above objection, he prayed in vain. 

3. If Christ did not here pray for a perfect imion 
among Christians, and consequently for their entire 
sanctification, it is absolutely beyond the power of 
language to express such a prayer. 

4. Christ here prays as the Mediator of the new 
covenant, and when the church comes to her Medi- 
ator, in faith, for an answer to this prayer, — and the 
day is no doubt near when she will do it, — this 
prayer, in all its blessed fulness, will be answered. 

HL It is further objected, that no particular time 
is specified when the prayer of Christ, and the prom- 
ises of the new covenant, &c., are to be fulfilled; con- 
5 



50 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



sequently, they do not prove the attainableness of 
entire sanctification in this life, I reply — 

1. In some of the promises, the time of their ful- 
filment is definitely specified For example, 1 Thess. 
V. 23. When can our " whole spirit, and soul, and 
body, be preserved blameless unto the coming of our 
Lord Jesus Christ," if not in this life ? 

2, If no time w^ere specified, we should involve 
ourselves in infinite guilt, were we to " limit the Holy 
One," by fixing the time, at or subsequent to the 
hour of death. Such a limitation of the promises 
sanctions those principles of interpretation by which 
the worst forms of error are sustained from the Bible. 
Take, for example, the passage, " Without holiness 
no man shall see the Lord." True, says the Univer- 
salist, and all men will be holy in eternity. Shall we 
sanction such a principle by our manner of limiting 
the application of the exceeding great and precious 
promises of divine grace ? 

1 close this discourse with a few brief reflections. 

1. We are now prepared for a distinct survey of the 
foundation on which the doctrine under consideration 
rests ; — a doctrine upheld by the declared provisions 
and promises of the gospel ; a doctrine sustained by 
the prayer of Christ as the Mediator of the new co\- 
enant, and by " the prayers of the samts," as dictated 
by him and by the spirit of grace ; a doctrine which 
so perfectly corresponds with what God requires of us 
as Christians, and with all that inspired apostles and 
prophets taught and wi'ote upon the subject. Upon 
what foundation does such a doctrine rest, but upon 
the "Rock of Ages"? 



ATTAINABLE. 



51 



2. We see the reason of the aspect of living death 
which the church now presents to the world. It is 
simply this : She is in a stiite of unbelief in respect 
to the nature and extent of the provisions and prom- 
ises of divine •^^race. 

3. We see when it is that the church will realize, 
in her own experience, the fulfilment of the promises 
of the new covenant. 1. When she fully becomes 
aware of the nature and extent of these promises. 
2. When the conditions are fulfilled by her on which 
the fulfihnent of these promises rests, as recorded in 
Ezek. xxxvi. 37, "Thus saitli the Lord God — I will 
yet for tliis be incpiired ul' by the house of Israel, to 
do this thing for tliem." When this is done, — and 
the time is near, 1 believe, when it will be done, — 
there will then exist upon earth "a holy generation, 
a royal priesthood, and a peculiar people." 

4. Christian brother, suppose that in view of all 
the facts, arguments, and divine declarations, which 
have now been spread before you, you should ap- 
proach your Redeemer with holy boldness, confidently 
expecting that his " blood shall cleanse you from all 
sin" — "that the very God of peace shall sanctify you 
wholly, and preserve your whole spirit, and soul, and 
body, blameless to the coming of our Lord Jesus 
Christ " — would that Redeemer, think you, frown you 
from his presence, for having asked and expected 
more than he himself has authorized you to ask and 
expect ? On the other hand, should you refuse to 
"open your mouth thus wide," would he not charge 
it to your unbelief, and would he not marvel at that 
unbelief.^ 



DISCOURSE III. 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED, :^ 

Nicodemus answered, and said unto him, How can these 

things be ? 

" Jesus answered, and said unto him, Art thou a master of Is- 
rael, and knowest not these things 7 " — John iii. 9, 10. 

The evidence by which the attainableness of a state 
of entire sanctification in this life is sustained, is now, 
to some extent, before the reader's mind, as the sub- 
ject presents itself to my own. Notwithstanding the 
abundance and force of the evidence, some may still 
be disposed to ask. How can these things be ? Ai'e 
there not many passages of Scripture which positive- 
ly contradict this doctrine ? and are there not many 
fundamental objections against it ? To a considera- 
tion of such passages and objections, the attention of 
the reader is now invited. 

L We will first consider the objections drawn from 
Scripture. 

I begin with Romans vii. 14 — ^25. (The reader is 
refen-ed to the Bible, as the passage is too long to be 
quoted entire.) The bearing of this passage upon the 
doctrine under consideration, depends upon the ques- 
tion whether the apostle is here describing the state of 
the Christian under the gospel, or of the sinner under 
the law, and acted upon by legal motives only. In 



OBJECTIO^JS ANSWERED. 



5^ 



favor of the first supposition, two, and only two con- 
siderations deserving notice, have, to my knowledge, 
been adduced. 

1. The present tense is here used, " I am carnal," 
&c. ; showing, it is said, that the apostle is describing 
his present character as a Christian. In answer to 
this, I remark, 1st. That it is perfectly common for 
the sacred writers to use this tense in describmg not 
only past but future events. 2d. The present tense 
was demanded in this instance, inasmuch as the de- 
sign of the apostle is to describe his own, and the 
state of every other person, under the exclusive action 
of legal motives, in opposition to then* state under the 
gospel. Under the former, he says, " I am" (and of 
course every other man is) "cai-nal, sold [a bond 
slave] under sin." Under the latter, chap. viii. 2, " 1 
am free fi*om the law of sin and death." Thus said 
Whitefield, as a drunkard was reeling before him, 
« There is George Whitefield, but for the grace of 
God." Supposing the apostle here to be describing 
his state as a sinner under the law, the present tense 
is demanded just as much as if he were describing 
his state as a Christian. 

2. The language used by the apostle m this pas- 
sage, it is said, is applicable to the Christian only. 
For example, "I delight in the law of God afler the 
inward man." "That which I do, I allow not." 
« What I hate, that I do," &c. To this I answer — 

1st. That language equally strong is applied to the 
sinner in other parts of the Bible. Ezek. xxxiii. 32, 
« And lo ! thou art unto them as a very lovely song 
of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well 
on an instrument ; for they hear thy words, but they 
5* 



54 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



do them not." Isa. Iviii. 2, "Yet ye seek me daily, 
and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did 
righteousness, and forsook not the ordinances of 
their Grod: they ask of me the ordinances of jus- 
tice ; they take delight in approaching to God." 
John V. 35, " He was a burning and a shining light ; 
and ye were willing, for a season, to rejoice in 
his light." Rom. ii. 17, 18, "Behold, thou art 
called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest 
thy boast of God, and knowest his will, and approv- 
est the things that are more excellent, being instruct- 
ed out of the law." Many other passages of similar 
import might be cited. With what propriety, I ask, 
can the language used in Rom. vii. be cited as proof, 
that the dinner cannot there be referred to, when 
language equally strong is so frequently applied to 
him in other parts of the Bible ? 

2d. Precisely similar language was at this time in 
common use among the heathen, and by them applied 
to men as sinners. " He that sins," says one, " does 
not what he would ; but what he would not, that he 
does." " I see the good," says another, " and approve 
it, but follow the bad." " 1 have forgotten none of 
the things about which you admonished me, but, 
although I have a desire to do them, nature struggles 
against it." " I knew that it was becoming, but, me 
miserable ! I could not do it." Such is the language 
common with those very heathen converts to whom 
the apostle was writing, and applied by them to sin- 
ners as such. On what principle, I ask, is it asserted, 
that they would understand this language, in opposi- 
tion to all previous usage, as applicable to the Chris- 
tian only. 



OBJECTIONS A>\SWERED. 



55 



We will now consider a few of the reasons in favor 
of the supposition that the sinner under the action 
of legal influences, and not the Christian under the 
gospel, is the subject of the apostle's remarks in this 
passage. 

1. It was so understood by the entire primitive 
church for the first two or three centuries after the 
epistle was written. This, none, 1 believe, acquaint- 
ed vnth the records of the primitive church will 
deny. Did the entire church, who received the 
passage directly from the apostle, mistake his 
meaning ? 

2. The supposition that the Christian is here re- 
ferred to, places what the apostle says of himself, as 
a Christian, in this passage and elsewhere, in palpa- 
ble and uTeconcilable contradiction to each other. 
In the state here described, the apostle says of him- 
self, " I am carnal, sold under sin," that is, a bond- 
slave under the power of sin, as the slave is under 
the absolute control of his master. We might here 
ask, Is this the Christian ? Again, " The good that I 
would," i. e., approve, " I do not, but the evil that I would 
not," i. e., disapprove, " that I do." " I find, then, a 
law," an invai'iable order of sequence, — for such 
only is law, — " that when I would do good, evil is 
present with me." Speaking of himself as a Christian, 
the apostle says, " I keep my body under, and bring it 
into subjection." Again, " The life that I now live in 
the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God." Are 
these states compatible? Are they one and tijfi 
same ? Again, the Christian is represented in tlj0 
Bible as "overcoming the world." The individud 
liere referred to is invariably overcome by the worlA 



56 



CHRISTIA>' PERFECTIOxN. 



Are these characters identical ? — Again, in the state 
here described, the apostle declares himself to be in 
"captivity to the law of sin and death." In chap, 
viii. 2, he says, that as a Christian he is fi'ee fi'om 
that very law. How can an individual be a captive 
under a law, and free from that law, at one and the 
same time ? Once more : In the state here referred 
to, the apostle says, " I am carnal." In chap. viii. 9, he^ 
declares absolutely, that every real Christian is " not 
in the flesh," that is, carnal, "but in the spirit." 
How can these states be identical ? 

3. If the apostle has described the condition of the 
Christian under the gospel, in the passage under con- 
sideration, he has defeated his own object, by show- 
ing that the gospel is equally impotent with the law 
in producing holiness of heart, the opposite of which 
he designed to show. The law convicts of sin, and 
then leaves the subject in bondage under sin. What 
more does the gospel, if the Christian, also, is " carnal, 
sold under sin " ? 

Well might the Jew ask, in view of such a pres- 
entation of the power of the gospel. What advan- 
tage hath the Christian, and what profit is there in 
faith in Christ, as far as holiness is concerned ? Do 
the " motions of sin, which are by the law, work in 
my members to bring forth fi'uit unto death"? So 
is the Christian, by the same influence precisely, 
" brought into captivity to the law of sin, which is in 
his members." Am I in the flesh ? — The Christian, 
also, is " carnal." Am I in bondage, under the power 
of sin ? — The Christian, also, is a bond slave, " sold 
under sin." Do I " approve of the things which are 
more excellent," and delight to know God and the 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 



"ordinances of righteousness," and at the same time 
remain in a state of disobedience to God? The 
Christian, also, " delights in the law of the Lord, after 
the Inward man," without obeying that law. "The 
good that he would he does not ; but the evil that he 
would not, that he does." How could the apostle, by 
such a train of reasoning as this, convince the Jew, 
that in depending upon the law for sandification as 
well as for justification, he was as a sinner leaning 
upon a broken reed ? and that the gospel alone not 
oiiXy justifies but sanctifies the sinner? 

4. The apostle, in the passage before us, declares 
expressly that he refers to his state as a sinner. "In 
me, that is, in my flesh," that is, in my carnal, un- 
renewed state, " dwelleth no good thing." 

5. The individual here described is, by the apostle's 
own showing, totally depraved. Notwithstanding all 
the opposition which the law of God and the law of 
his mind make to sin, he invariably practises it, on all 
occasions and under all circumstances. If such a 
state does not indicate the entire absence of holiness, 
nothing can do it. The whole matter is summed up 
by the apostle in verse 25 — "So, then, with the mind 
I myself serve the law of God ; but with the flesh the 
law of sin." That is, in the language of Professor 
Stuart, " While my mind, i. e., my reason and con- 
science, takes part with the law of God, and approves 
its sanctions, my carnal part obtains the predominance, 
and brings me into a state of condemnation and ruin." 
For a full and complete illustration of the meaning 
of the entire passage, the reader is referred to the 
commentary of Professor Stuart. 

I conclude, then, that this chapter, as it refers to 



58 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



another subject, has nothing to do with the question 
whether entire hoUness is attamable in this life. 

Gal. V. 17, " For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, 
and the Spirit against the flesh ; and these are contrary 
one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that 
ye would." The apostle here gives the reason for the 
declaration found in the verse preceding — " Walk in 
the Spu-it, and ye shall not udfil the lusts of the flesh.'* 
The reason assigned is this. The dictates of the flesh 
and of the Spirit are in contradiction the one to the 
other. Obedience to one excludes subjection to the 
other. Hence, if we " walk in the Spirit," we " cannot 
do the things that we would," i. e., " fulfil the lusts of 
the flesh." Strange that an objection to the doctrine 
of holiness should be drawn fi'om this passage, which, 
when rightly understood, directly asserts the doctrine ; 
tuiless the ground is taken that obedience to the 
command, " Walk in the Spirit," is impracticable. 

The common explanation of the passage makes 
the apostle assign the strange reason for the declara- 
tion, "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the 
kists of the flesh," that as the flesh and Spirit are 
contraiy the one to the other, the Christian cannot 
do the thmgs that he would, i. e., cannot walk ui the : 
Spirit. I 

Phil. iii. 12, " Not as though I had already attained, i 
either were already perfect." On this passage 1 
remai'k, 1st From a comparison of this passage with \ , 
the phrase in verse 15, " Let us therefore, as many as , 
be perfect," it is evident the apostle considered j 
himself in oue sense perfect, and in another imperfect , 
Why, then, is the inference directly dravm that, in | 
verse 12, he afiirms his imperfection in holiness, when | 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 



59 



the opposite conclusion is as fully sustained by verse 
15? But, 2d. The apostle, as is perfectly evident 
from the context, is not here speaking of sanctification 
at all. There are three senses, somew^hat differing 
the one from the other, in which the verb, here 
rendered perfect, as well as the adjective from which 
it is derived, are used in the Bible — 1. To designate 
moral perfection, or entire sanctification in holiness, 
as in Mat. v. 48, " Be ye therefore perfect." 2. Ma- 
turity ill Christian knowledge and virtue, 1 Cor. ii. 6, 
"We speak wisdom to them that are perfect." 3. Ex- 
altation to a state of reward or happiness in a future 
world, in consequence of a life of devotion to the 
divine service in the present world. TJius, in Heb. ii. 
10, Christ, as the Captain of our salvation, is said to 
have been made "perfect," that is, advanced to a state 
of glory, " through [or on account of] sufferings." 

Among the Greeks," says Professor Stuart, speakmg 
upon the passage last referred to, " this verb was em- 
ployed to designate the condition of those who, having 
run in the stadium, and proved to be victorious in the 
contest, were proclaimed as successful combatants, 
and had the honors and rewards of victoiy bestowed 
upon them." Such persons were said to be perfect, 
or to have been perfected. Now, that the apostle 
uses the term "perfect " in this last sense exclusively, hi 
Phil. iii. 12, is demonstrably evident from the fact 
that he was writing to Greeks, and uses it with refer- 
ence to the very custom, m reference to which, they 
had been accustomed to use the term m this one sense 
only. He represented himself as running ha a race ; 
but not as yet being "perfect;" that is, as not having 
been advanced to a state of glor}^ in consequence of 



60 



CHRISTIAN PERF£CTIO^\ 



having victoriously finished his course. It is, then, in 
reference to having finished his course and received 
the consequent rewards, and not in reference to moral 
perfection, that the apostle uses the term " perfect " 
in the passage under consideration. This the apostle 
himself directly afiirms. He uses the phrases " not 
as though I had already attained, either were already 
perfect " and " I count not myself to have apprehend- 
ed," with express reference, not to present holiness 
at all, but vrith exclusive respect to the " resurrection 
of the dead," and " the prize of the high calling of 
God in Christ Jesus," i. e., to the glory and blessedness 
consequent on having victoriously finished his Chris- 
tian race. Hence Professor Robinson, in his Lexicon 
on the New Testament, thus explains the phrase 
" either were already perfect" — " Not as though I had 
already completed my course and arrived at the goal, 
so as to receive the prize." In respect to holiness, aii 
individual who is running the Christian race is perfect, 
who puts forth his entire energies in that course. In 
respect to a state of gloiy and blessedness, he is per- 
fect when, and only when, he has finished his course 
and received the consequent reward. It is with ex- 
clusive reference to the latter, and not to the former, 
that the apostle affirms, that he had not "attained, 
and was not perfect." The passage, then, has no 
reference at all to the question, whether perfection in 
holiness is attainable in. this life. 

1 John i. 8, " If we say that we have no sin, we 
deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." The 
phrase " have no sin" may relate to our present or to 
our past character. Thus, when a man says, "I 
am a sinner," he may mean, I am now actually sin- 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 



61 



ning, or I have sinned, and on that account sustain 
the character of a sinner. In which sense does the 
apostle here use the phrase " If we say we have no 
sin " ? Does he refer to our character in view of what 
we are now doing, or of what we have done in past 
time ? To the latter, 1 argue, for the following 
reasons : — 

1st. The denial here spoken of stands opposed to 
the phi'ase " confessing our sins," in the following 
verse. Confession relates to past, and not to present 
sin ; it being absolutely impossible for a person to 
commit a sin, repent of it, and confess it, at one and 
the same moment ; which must be the case if confes- 
sion relates to sins which we are now committing. 

2d. In verse 10, the apostle repeats the thought con- 
tained in the phrase under consideration, in a manner 
which leaves no doubt in respect to his meaning — "li* 
we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar." 
This declaration is added, to give emphasis to the 
affirmation, " If we say we have no sin, we deceive 
ourselves," and is only another form of statmg the 
same thing. 

3d. The context plainly shows, that the apostle 
is speaking of another thing, altogether, than the 
question, whether a man ever attains to a state of 
entire holiness in this life. In the verse preceding, 
he says, " If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, 
we have fellowship one with another, and the blood 
of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us fi-om all sin." 
He then adds, "If we say we have no sin," [to be 
cleansed from, to be forgiven,] that is, if we deny our 
need of the redemption of Christ, " we deceive our- 
selves, and the truth is not in us." Now, what class of 
6 



62 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



persons existed at the time, to whom this declaration 
was applicable ? I answer, It was the miconverted 
Jew, who maintained, that in consequence of his 
obedience to the law, he was free from all sin, and did 
not need the redemption of Christ. Such persons 
the a})ostle addresses by saying. If we deny our need 
of Christ's redemption, by affirming our freedom from 
sin, we deceive ourselves ; and not only so, by saying 
that " we have not sinned," i. e., affirming that " we 
have no sin," we also make God a liar. The passage, 
then, refers exclusively to sinners who deny their 
need of Christ's redemption, by saying that they 
"have not sinned," and not to such men as John 
Wesley and James B. Taylor, who believed, that, by 
the grace of Christ applied to " cleanse them from 
all sin," they had " been made perfect in love." To 
be made thus perfect, is what we are here taught to 
expect, as the consequence of "walking in the light," 
and " confessing our sins." The passage, then, instead 
of contradicting the doctrine under consideration, 
when rightly explained, altogether favors the doctrine. 
What else can be the meaning of the declarations, 
" If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have 
fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus 
Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin " ? Also, " If 
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive 
our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness " ? 

James iii. 2, " In many things we offijnd all." Here 
it is said, we have the positive testimony of inspira- 
tion, that in many res{)ects all Christians sin. If so, 
the doctrine under consideration must be given up 
of course. But what is tlie meaning of the above 
declaration ? To answer this, it is necessary to ex- 



OBJECTIO>'S ANSWERED. 



63 



plain the verse preceding. "My brethren, be not 
many masters, knowing that we shall receive the 
greater condemnation." The term "masters" may 
mean, simply, I'eligious teachers, or it may mean 
slanderers, or critics on the manners and morals of 
others. The Greeks and Romans, as Calvin remarks, 
in speaking upon the term, "were at that time 
accustomed to call persons of the class last men- 
tioned, masters, because they set themselves up as 
masters in morals." In this sense, not only Calvin, 
but Schleusner explains the term. It is used in the 
same sense as the term "judge " is m Matt. vii. 1, the 
same identical sin being prohibited in the phrase 
"judge not," as in the prohibition "Be not many 
masters." That the term " masters " is to be under- 
stood in this passage, in this sense, as designating, not 
religious teachers, but slanderers, or critics on the 
manners of others, I argue, 1st. From the fact, that 
the abuse of the tongue is the exclusive subject of 
discom'se in the whole passage with which the term 
is connected. 2d. The apostle declares, absolutely, 
that, if we are " masters," we shall receive greater con- 
demnation, which is only conditionally true of reli- 
gious teachers, that is, if they sm. The apostle, as 
Cahin observes, forbids " that there should be many 
masters," because many are every where disposed 
to rush into this business. Understanding the term 
" masters," here in this, its true sense, the declaration 
"in many things we offend all," may be readily 
explained. — It contains the reason why " we shall," 
if we are " masters," " receive the greater condemna- 
tion." The reason is this — as masters, "we all 
offend in many things," that is, are great offenders. 



64 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



The term '^polla^^^ here rendered " many thmgs," is 
often used adverbially in the Bible, as explained 
above. Thus the apostle says, " I wept mwcA." Again, 
" He straitly charged them," i. e., earnestly, "iind he 
besought him muchJ^ "l\^refl% desired him to come 
to you." In all these passages, tlie term rendered 
" many things." m the passage under consideration, is 
used. Now, wJieJi the apostle says, tliat "we all 
oifend greatly," or are aggravated oHenders, lie does 
not affirm tliis ol" us all as Christians^ but as misters ; 
just as in the phrase "we sliall receive greater con- 
demnation," he aliirms tliat as masters, and not as 
Cliristians, we sliall be thus condennied. If we are 
masters, we are to receive greater condenniation ; be- 
cause we then are aiCiJ^ravated offi ndtrs — tlie only rea- 
son conceivable why we should be thus condemned. 

The connnon explanation of the passage makes the 
a])ostle render the strangest reason conceivable for 
the fact that masters "will receive the greater con- 
demnation," to wit, that all men sin in jnany things. 
How does the iiictj that all men sin in many things, 
prove, that those who are guilty of particular sins 
shall receive severer puifishment than others ? Or that 
religious teach(;rs even, if they sin, will be thus pun- 
ished ? Suppose a person should reason in a sinfdar 
manner in respect to any other crime — murder, (or 
exam})le. "All m(;n sin in many things, — therefore 
the murderer shall receive the greater condennia- 
tion." This would be just as reasonable, as in refer- 
ence to the sin of evil speaking, or the sins of reli- 
gious teachers. Further, according to the common 
explanation of the passage, " masters " are to be pun- 
ished more than they deserve. Two men, we will 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 



65 



suppose, commit to-day the same sin. One imme- 
diately dies without repentance. The other sub- 
sequently becomes a " master," or slanderer. The 
former, according to the Bible, will be punished for 
that sin, all that it deserves. The latter, according to 
the present explanation of the passage, is, for that 
identical sin, to receive still " greater condemnation," 
i. e., to receive greater punishment than the sin de- 
serves. The meaning of the passage, together with 
the context, may be thus expressed : Do not multitudes 
of you, my brethren, be "masters" or slanderers. 
If we are, we shall receive greater condemnation ; 
because, in that case, we all offend in many things, 
that is, are aggravated offenders. On the other hand, 
" if any man offend not in word, the same is a per- 
fect man." The object of the apostle is, to contrast 
our character and prospects as " masters," with om* 
state when our tongue is subject to the law of love. 
In the former case we are to " receive greater con- 
demnation," because we are then all of us great 
offenders. In the latter, we are perfect. Nothing, 
then, was farther from the intention of the sacred 
writer, than the design of denying the doctrine of 
holiness, as maintained in these discourses. 

Matt. vi. 12, " And forgive our debts, as we forgive 
our debtors." From the fact, that this petition is 
found in the Lord's prayer, it is argued, that Chris- 
tians will always have sins to confess, or will never 
arrive at a state of perfect holiness in this life. This 
principle, if admitted, would prove that the kingdom 
of God will never come, and that the Christian will 
never be in a state in this life in which he will not be 
subject to injuries from others. The time will arrive, 
6* 



66 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



when the kingdom of God will have come, and when 
"they will not hurt nor destroy m all God's holy 
mornitain." At that time the above petitions will be 
inappropriate ; because the prayers of all the saints in 
this respect will have been fully answered. So of 
the petition under consideration. The Savior says, 
" After this manner, pray ,^fe ; " that is, if ye have, 
among other things, sins to confess, confess them in 
this manner. It was no part of his design to affirm 
or deny that we shall ever be in a state in which our 
" heart will not condemn us." 

Heb. xii. 6, " Whom the Lord loveth he chasten eth, 
and scourgeth every son whom he receivetli." From 
the fact, that all Christians are chastened of God, it 
is inferred, that they never become perfect in holiness 
in this life ; because they would not then need chas- 
tisement. I reply, that the case of the earthly parent, 
cited by the apostle to illustrate his meaning, proves 
precisely the opposite of what the objection supposes. 
An earthly parent induces obedience in his child 
by the rod ; but the rod, properly applied, brings the 
child into a state in which the rod is no more needed. 
So of the rod in the hand of our heavenly Father. 
Its object is to render us " partakers of his holiness." 
Till this end is accomplished, the rod will be used. 
When this end is accomplished, it will no longer be 
needed. That the Christian will never come into 
this state in this life, it was no part of the apostle's 
object to affirm. 

Tliese are all the passages that I have met with 
from the New Testament, which have been supposed 
to deii}^ the doctrine under consideration. A very 
few passing remarks are called for, upon certain pas- 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 



67 



sages in the Old Testament, which are commonly 
adduced for the same object as the passages noticed 
above. Two preliminary obseiTations are deemed 
requisite to a correct understanding of these passages, 
in respect to the subject before us. 

1. Whatever is said of the character of saints, un- 
der the old dispensation, cannot be applied to Chris- 
tians under the new, unless such application was 
manifestly intended by the sacred writer. The ancient 
saints, we are told, " received not the promises, God 
having reserved some better things for us, that they 
without us should not be made perfect." 

2. When the sacred writers would express a fact 
which is true of the majority of men, though not of 
every individual, they make use, in most instances, of 
universal terms. 

One example will illustrate both of the above princi- 
ples. Jer. ix. 4, " Take ye heed every one of his neigh- 
bor, and trust ye not in any brother ; for every brother 
will utterly supplant, and every neighbor will walk with 
slanders." Who supposes that this passage is appli- 
cable to all Christians, or even to real saints, at the time 
the prophet wrote, — to the prophet himself, for ex- 
ample. Now, in the light of this example, let us con- 
template two similar passages. Eccl. vii. 20, "For 
there is not a just man on earth that doeth good and 
sinneth not." On this passage I remark, 1. If it is 
to be understood in an unlimited sense, no reason can 
be assigned why it should be applied to Christians in 
the full possession of the blessings of the new cove- 
nant It was made with reference to men in tiie state 
then present, and not with reference to their condi- 
tion under an entirely different dispensation. 2. The 



68 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTIO?r. 



context shows that it is only in a general, and not in 
an unlimited sense, that this passage is to be under- 
stood. In the verse preceding, the writer says, " Wis- 
dom strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty 
men that are in the city." We are here exhorted to 
use prudence in our transactions with men. The 
reason is then assigned — "There is not a just man 
upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not;" i. e., in, 
all your transactions with men, act upon the pruden- 
tial maxim, that no man can be trusted. As a pru- 
dential maxim, the declaration under consideration is 
true, — true not in a universal, but general sense ; just 
as the declaration of the prophet, above cited, is true 
in a similar sense. In this sense only, each of the 
writers under consideration evidently designed to be 
understood. 

Again, Prov. xx. 9, " Who can say, I have made my 
heart clean ; I am pure from my sin ?" The first re- 
m.ark upon the passage last cited, is equally applicable 
to this. The true meaning of this passage, however, 
is, in my j udgment, generally overlooked. The design 
of the sacred writer, as I suppose, is this ; to ask the 
question, "Who, in looking over his past life, can deny 
the fact that he is a sinner, and is clear from all the 
sin charged upon him?" When an individual, in the 
language of the Bil)le, would affirm his innocency of 
any crime, or sin, he was accustomed to affirm that 
he "had cleansed his hands," or "washed them in in- 
nocency;" i. e., had kept himself pure. So of the 
sacred writer, in the passage before us. — "Who can 
say, I have made my heart clean ; I am pure from my 
sin ;" i. e., Who can say, T have preserved ray heart 
free from all sin, and my hands from all tl.e iniquity 



OBJECTIO-Nb A.NSWERED. 



m 



that may be laid to niy charge ? This question is asked 
with reference to the entire past life, and not with ref- 
erence to the fact whether any individual does at any 
period of life, attain to a state of entire sanctifica- 
tion. 

Job ix. 20, "If I say, I am perfect, that also will 
prove me perverse/' How does this declaration, which 
Job applies to himself, and to no other person, prove 
that all other saints, and Christians even, are imper- 
fect, any more than the confession of David proves 
that all are guilty of adultery ? The inference is just 
as legitimate in one case as in the other. 

1 Kings viii. 46, "If they sin against thee, (for there 
is no man that sinneth not.") This passage, if rightly 
translated, simply affirms, that all men do, at some pe- 
riod of their lives, sin, and not that no man, at any pe- 
riod arrives at a state of entire holiness. The former, 
and not the latter, is the thought that would naturally 
suggest itself to the speaker,under the circumstances in 
which he was then placed. The following note, from 
the Comprehensive Bible, shows clearly, to my muid, 
that a different rendering should have been given to 
the passage : " The second clause of this verse, as it 
is here translated, renders this supposition, in the first 
clause, entirely nugatory; for if there be no man that 
sinneth not, it is useless to say. If they sin ; but this 
contradiction is removed by rendering the original^ 
*If they shall sin against thee, (for there is no man 
that may not sin ; ') i. e., there is no man impeccable, 
or infallible ; none that is not liable to sin." In the 
conjugation in which the word is here found, this is 
its appropriate meaning. 

The imperfection of good men, whose lives are 



70 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



recorded in Scriptm-e, is also adduced to prove that 
perfection in holiness is impracticable in this life. 
In reply, I remark, that all that is recorded, is the 
simple fact, that such men were, at particular times, 
guilty of particular sins. How does this prove that, 
subsequently, they did not attain to perfection in 
holiness ? How, for example, does the fact, that 
Paul disputed with Barnabas, the only sin — if it be a 
sin — of Paul's Christian life, I believe on record, — 
how does this fact, I say, prove, that, when Paul 
afterwards said, " The life which I noio live in the 
flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God," he was not 
in a state of entire sanctification ? 

Having noticed all the objections derived from 
Scripture to the doctruie under consideration, it 
remains to notice some others arising from the 
supposed tendencies of the doctrine itself. 

1. This doctrine, it is said, is, or in its legitimate 
tendencies, leads to. Perfectionism. If any individual 
will point out any thing intrinsic, in the doctrine here 
maintained, at all allied to that error, I, for one, will 
be among the fii'st to abandon the position which 1 
am now endeavormg to sustain. Perfectionism, 
technically so called, is, in my judgment, in the 
native and necessary tendencies of its principles, 
worse than the worst form of infidelity. The doc- 
trine of holiness, now under consideration, in all its 
essential features and elements, stands in direct 
opposition to Perfectionism. It has absolutely noth- 
ing m common with it, but a few terms derived 
from the Bible. 

1. Perfectionism, for example, in its ftmdamental 



OBJECTI03S ANSWERED. 



71 



principles, is the abrogation of all law. The doc- 
trine of holiness, as here maintained, is perfect 
obedience to the precepts of the law. It is the 
" righteousness of the law fulfilled in us." 

2. In abrogating the moral law, as a rule of duty, 
Perfectionism abrogates all obligation of every kind, 
and to all beings. The doctrine of holiness, as here 
maintained, contemplates the Christian as a " debtor 
to all men," to the full extent of his capacities, and 
consists in a perfect discharge of all these obliga- 
tions — of every obligation to God and man. 

3. Perfectionism is a "rest" which suspends all 
efforts and prayer, even, for the salvation of the 
world. The doctrine of holiness, as here main- 
tained, consists in such a sympathy with the love 
of Christ, as constrains the subject to consecrate 
his entire being to the glory of Christ, in the salva- 
tion of men. 

4. Perfectionism substitutes the direct teaching of 
the Spu'it, falsely called, in the place of the " word." 
This expects such teachings only in the diligent 
study of the word, and tries every doctrine by the 
" law and the testimony," — " the law and the testimo- 
ny," expounded in conformity with the legitimate 
laws of interpretation. 

5. Perfectionism sm-renders up the soul to blind 
impulse, assuming, that every existing desire or 
impulse is caused by the direct agency of the Spirit, 
and therefore to be gratified. The doctrine of holi- 
ness, as here maintained, consists in the subjection 
of all our powers and propensities to the revealed 
will of God. 

6. Perfectionism abrogates the Sabbath, and all the 



72 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



ordinances of the gospel, and, in its legitimate ten- 
dencies, even mamage itself. The doctrine of holi- 
ness, as here maintained, is a state of perfect moral 
purity, induced and perpetuated by a careful obser- 
vance of all these ordinances, together with subjec- 
tion to other influences of the gospel, received by 
faith. 

7. Perfectionism renders, in its fundamental prin- 
ciples, all perfection an impossibility. If, as this 
system maintains, the Christian is freed from all 
obligation, is bound by no law — in short, if there is 
no standard with which to compare his actions, (and 
there is none,) if the moral law, as a rule of action, is 
abrogated, — moral perfection can no more be predica- 
ted of the Christian than of the horse, the ox, or the 
ass. The doctrine of holiness, on the other hand, as 
here maintained, contemplates the moral law as the 
only rule and standard of the moral conduct, and 
consists in perfect conformity to the precepts of 
this law. 

8. Perfectionism, in short, in its essential elements, 
is the perfection of licentiousness. The doctrine of 
holiness, as here maintained, is the perfect and per- 
petual harmony of the soul with "whatsoever things 
are true, whatsoever things are honest," "just," 
" pure," " lovely," and of " good report," and if there ! 
be any virtue, " and if there be any praise," with | 
these things also. | 

What agreement, then, has the doctrine of holiness, | 
as here maintained, with Perfectionism ? The same I 
that light has with darkness. A man might, with 
the same propriety, affirm that I am a Unitarian,! 
because 1 believe in one God, while I hang my whole | 



OBJECTIONS Ar^SWERED, 



73 



eternity upon the doctrine of the Trinity, as to affirm 
that I am a Perfectionist, because I hold the doctrine 
of hoUness as now presented. 

n. This doctrine, it is said, will lead to spiritual 
pride. I answer, 1. An individual holding the sen- 
timent under consideration, who has the true standard 
of holiness before his mind, and is conscious of coming 
"short of the glory of God," will be weighed down 
in deep humiliation and self-abasement, under the 
conviction that he not only is not what he ought to be, 
but what he might become. On the other hand, the 
man holding the common views will be greatly com- 
forted, under a consciousness of moral imperfection, 
Avitli the thought that he, in common with holy Paul, 
and David, and Isaiah, and all the purest saints that 
ever lived, through the " law in his members warring 
against the law of his mind, is in captivity unto the 
law of sin and death." 2. If an individual should 
attain to a state of entire consecration to Christ, 
spiritual pride would, of course, be wholly excluded. 
I shall recur to tliis subject again in a subsequent 
discourse. 

HL It is further objected, that the belief of this 
doctrine will lead indi victuals to suppose themselves 
perfect, when they are not, and thus leave them in 
delusions fearfully dangerous. 1 answer, 1. This will 
not be the case, if, as remarked in a former discourse, 
the true standard of holmess be kept before the mind. 
2. If no doctrine is to be proclaimed which hypocrites 
will abuse, we must certainly find some other doc- 
7 



74 CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 

trine than this, that none are entirely sanctified in \ 
this life. ' 

IV. I have never yet seen any person that was 
perfect. I answer, 1. The reason may be, and I have 
no doubt is, the unbelief* of the church in respect to 
the nature and extent of the provisions and promises 
of divine grace. 2. If, brother, your confidence in the 
provisions and promises of divine grace is at all 
weakened, or your judgment of their nature and 
extent is at ail influenced by the actual attainments 
of Christians at the present time, you ought to know 
that your faith rests upon " things seen," and not upon 
the word of God. Wiiere is the authority for deter- 
mining the meaning of God's declarations by the 
attainments of those who, by their unbelief, perhaps, 
are "making void the law of God"? 3. The objec- 
tion under consideration lies with equal force against 
the divine declaration, that the "earth shall yet be 
full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters 
cover the sea." No such event has ever yet taken 
place. What should we think of the Christian, who, 
for this reason, should affirm that such an event never 
will take place ? The question before us is, not what 
Christians have attained, but what God has promised 



REMARKS. 

1. The reader is now prepared to determine the 
fact, where the weight of evidence lies, in respect to 
tlie momentous question, Ts perfection in holiness 



OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 



75 



attainable in tliis life ? On the one band, we bave a 
long array of divine declarations in respect to the 
provisions of the gospel and the design of the re- 
demption of Christ. We have also a similar array 
of "exceeding great and precious promises," the 
meaning of which cannot easily be misapprehended 
by the honest inquirer after truth. In addition to all 
these, we have the express commands of Scripture 
addressed to us as Christians, together with the prayer 
of Christ, and of inspired men, who spake and prayed 
as they were " moved by the Holy Ghost," all bearing 
upon this one point. On the other hand, we have a 
small number of passages, a careful analysis of which 
clearly shows to have no relevancy to the subject 
whatever — passages the most important of which 
(such, for example, as Rom. vii.. Gal. v. 17, Phil. iiL 12, 
and 1 John i. 8) have long since been given up as 
proof texts upon this subject, by many, who deny the 
doctrine maintained in these discourses. Under such 
circumstances, how is it possible for us to doubt, not 
only where the weight of evidence, but where the 
truth lies ? 

2. Here, also, I may be permitted to allude to the 
manifest carelessness with which the church generally 
has made up her judgment upon the doctrine under 
consideration, and to the necessity of a careful and 
prayerful reexamination of the whole subject. In 
reading the works of the ablest divines upon this 
subject, I have been forcibly struck with their manner 
of treating it, as indicating the fact, that their opiniors^ 
were formed, and their proof texts sehicted, alir.ost 
at random, without reference to fundamental prin- 
ciples. How else can we account, for example, for 



76 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTIOjy. 



the strange phenomenon, that a declaration, which 
Job made with exclusive reference to himseltj has 
been so universally cited, as proof that the man who 
embraces the views maintained in these discom'ses is 
not only deceived, but shows himself, by the sentiment 
which he has embraced, to be perverse. How else 
can we account for the general adoption of the maxim, 
as if it were a revealed truth, that, if a man should 
become entirely sanctified, he would be taken directly 
to heaven, and not be permitted to live on earth a 
moment ? Sin, or at least some degi-ee of it, is re- 
garded as an essential element of Christian character, 
as a life-preserver, notwithstanding the divine decla- 
ration, that "he that would love life, and see good 
days, must refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips 
that they speak no guile," and that implicit obedience 
to all God's commandments is the only surety for long 
life. 

3. Permit me, in conclusion, to allude to the state 
of mind necessary to a correct investigation of this 
subject. It is a supreme and ardent desire after 
holiness, and a knowledge of the means of attaining 
it. " If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be 
full of light." Without this state of mind, we are 
unprepared, not only for this, but for every inquiry in 
respect to the Scriptures. 

Reader, is this your state? Is the inquiry after 
the way of holiness the great and absorbing inquiry 
of your heart ? " Blessed are they that hunger and 
thirst afler righteousness ; for they shall be filled." 



DISCOURSE IV. 



THE NEW COVENANT. 

" Behold, the days comC; saith the Lord, when I will make a 
new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of 
Judah J not according" to the covenant that I made with their fathers, 
in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the 
land of Eg-ypt 5 because they continued not in my covenant, and 
I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant 
that I will make with the house of Israel, after those days, saith 
the Lord 5 I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in 
their hearts, and will be to them a God, and they shall be to me 
a people 5 and they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and 
every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for all shall 
know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful 
to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I 
remember no more. In that he saith, a new covenant, he hath 
made the first old.'' — Heb. viii. 8—13. 

" And to Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant." — Heh. 
xii. 24. 

The great difficulty, which a vast majority of 
Christians feel, in respect to holy living, is the want 
of the constant presence and influence of a filial, 
affectionate, confiding, and obedient spirit towards 
God,-— a spirit which perpetually cries, Abba, 
Father, and consists in the spontaneous flow of the 
heart's purest and best affections towards Christ. If the 
mind could always be in this state, how easy it wouht 
be to avoid all sin, and perfectly to obey all the divine 



78 



CHRISTIA^' PERFECTION. 



requisitions ! This spirit Christians often resolve to 
cherish. They find their resolutions, however, wliolly 
inefficient to move the heart. To remedy the diffi- 
culty, they resort to their Bibles and to prayer, and 
renew their resolutions with increasing earnestness. 
Still the heart remains comparatively unmoved ; and 
whatever effect is produced by such means, very soon 
passes away, "like the morning cloud," leaving in 
the heart the same " aching void " as before. Now, 
while the Christian is thus " resolving, and re-resolv- 
ing," and constantly sliding back to the cheerless 
state from which he started, while, in spite of his 
efforts, he is perpetually sinking deeper and deeper 
in the " mire and deep waters," suppose the Divine 
Redeemer should pass along, and say to his weary 
and desponding disciple, If you will at once cease 
from all these vain efforts, and yield yourself up to 
my control, relying with implicit confidence in my 
ah)ility and faithfulness, I will enter into a covenant 
with you, that I will, myself, shed abroad in your 
heart that " perfect love which casteth out all fear," 
that filial and affectionate spirit which you have 
vainly endeavored to induce in your own mind. 1 
will so present the truth to your apprehension, that 
your heart's purest and best affections shall constant- 
ly and spontaneously flow out toward me. I will 
secure you in a state of perfect and perpetual obedi- 
ence to eveiy command of God, and in the full and 
constant fruition of his presence and love. All this 
1 will do in perfect consistency with the full, and 
free, and uninterrupted exercise of your own volun- 
tary agency." Such a message would be to the 
believer, "afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not 



THE NEW COVEPfAr^T. 



79 



comforted," as life from the dead. This, Christian, 
is precisely what the Lord Jesus Christ offers to do 
for you, as the Mediator of the new covenant. With 
the Psahnist you can say, " I will run in the way of 
thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge mj^ 
heart." Christ is now ready thus to enlarge your' 
heart, that, under the spontaneous flow of pure and 
perfect love, you may do the whole will of God. 
Till your faith is fastened upon Christ, as the life 
and light of the soul, as the "quickening spirit," 
who alone is able to breathe into your heart the 
breath of spiritual life, all your efforts after holiness 
will be vain. ^ 

My object, in the present discourse, is to present to 
your contemplation and faith this new covenant, and 
Christ as the Mediator of this covenant. In illustra- 
ting this subject, the attention of the reader is invited 
to a consideration of the following propositions : — 

I. The nature of the new covenant, as distinguished 
from the first, or the old covenabt. 

n. The relation of these two covenants. 

nr. The object of Christ in the provisions of 
divine grace. 

IV. The conditions on which he will fulfil in us 
what he has promised as the Mediator of the new 
covenant. 

L The nature of the new covenant, as distin- 
guished from the first, or the old covenant. 

The old covenant, as was shown in a preceding 
discourse, is the moral law, the covenant originally 
made with Adam, re-announced at Mount Sinai, and 
which ROW exists between God and all unfallen spirits. 



80 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



The new covenant, on the other hand, is the 
covenant of grace, obscurely disclosed to our first 
parents, m the promise, " The seed of the woman 
shall bruise the serpent's head," more distinctly 
unfolded in the promise to Abraham, and brought 
out in all its fulness in the new dispensation. As 
the Mediator of this covenant, Christ, as shown in 
the text, and in a preceding discourse, promises to 
believers, on condition of their faith in him, the fol- 
lowing blessings — 1. A confii-med state of pure and 
perfect holiness, such as is required by the moral law. 

2. The full pardon of all sin, or entire justification. 

3. The perpetual fruition of the divine presence 
and favor. 4. The consequent universal prevalence 
of the gospel. Such are the " riches of the glory of 
Christ's inheritance in the samts." Such is the " com- 
pleteness of the saints in him," as the Mediator of the 
new covenant. We will now, 

n.* Consider the relations of these two covenants. 
This subject was alluded to in a preceding discourse. 
My object now is, to present the whole subject with 
greater distinctness and fulness than I then could 
do for the want of space. I remark — 

1. As then observed, the same standard of char- 
acter, perfect holiness, is common to each of these 
covenants. 

2. In the first covenant, holiness is required of the 
creature. In the new covenant, the same thing is 
promised to the believer. 

* Most of the distinctions here made between the two cove- 
nants were sugg-ested to my mind by my beloved associate^ Rev. 
C. G. Finney. 



THE NEW COVENANT. 



81 



3. The condition on which the blessings promised 
under the first covenant, are secured, is. Do and live. 
" Moses describeth the rig}\teousness which is of the 
law, that the man that doeth these things shall live 
by them," The condition of the new covenant is, 
Believe and live. " Now, the just shall live by faith." 
"But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh 
on this wise : Say not in thine heait, Who shall as- 
cend into heaven ? (that is, to bring Chi'ist down from 
above ;) or. Who shall descend mto the deep ? (thai 
is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what 
saith it ? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, 
and in thy heart ; that is, tlie word of faith which we 
preach. That, if thou shalt confess with thy mouth 
the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe m thy heart that 
God hath raised him from tLe dead, thou shalt be saved. 
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness ; 
and with the mouth confession is made unto salva- 
tion." 

4. The " surety " of the first covenant is the crea- 
ture himself. The " surety " of the new covenant is 
Christ. In other words, the salvation of a creature 
under the former depends upon the faithfulness of 
the creature himself. The salvation of a creature 
under the latter depends upon the faithfulness of 
Christ. Hence Christ is said, Heb. v. 22, to have 
been " made a surety of a better testament," [cove- 
nant] Li Heb. viii. 6, as the Mediator of the new 
covenant, Christ is also declared to be the " Media- 
tor of a better covenant, w hich was established upon 
better promises." 

5. The first covenant is adapted to the condition 
of creatures only who have never sinned. The new 



82 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTIOiy. 



covenant is adapted, by infinite wisdom and love, 
to the condition of sinners involved in infinite guilt, 
and hopelessly lost, as far ns any efforts of their own 
are concerned, under the power of sin. 

6. The exchisive influence of the fii*st covenant 
upon sinners is to increase tlieu' guilt and aggravate 
their depravity. The new covenant redeems these 
very sinners from the curse of the law, and "delivers 
them from the bondage of corruption into the glo- 
rious liberty of the chihhen of God." Hence the first 
covenant is said to " gender to bondage ; " i. e., sinners 
under its influence are left in hopeless bondage, 
mider the power of sin ; while all who are under the 
full influence of the new covenant, are free, i. e., are 
delivered from the power of sin. raid introduced into 
a state of purity and blessedness, Gal. iv. 25 — 26, 
" For these are the two covenants ; the one from tlie 
Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is 
Agar. For this Agar is Mount Shiai in Ai*abia, and 
answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in 
bondage with her children. But Jerusalem, which is 
above, is free, which is the mother of us all." 

7. The first covenant is a dispensation of justice. 
The new is a dispensation of mercy, under the influ- 
ence of which the sinner is brought to the "blood of 
s])rinkling which s])eaketh better things than the 
blood of Abel." The former influences the subject 
by commands and prohibitions, rewards and pejial- 
ties ; the latter subdues and melts the heart of the 
rebel by the power of love. 

8. Finally, whatever the old covenant, or the moral 
law, requires of the creature, the new covenant, as 
shown in a former discourse, promises to the believer. 



THE NEW COVENANT. 



83 



The first covenant, for example, requires of the 
creature perfect and perpetual holiness. The new 
covenant promises to the believer perfect and per- 
petual holiness. I will first cite a few of the passages 
quoted in that discourse, to sustain the above declara- 
tion, and will then ofier some general remarks to 
show, that the construction there put upon them is 
correct. Jer. xxxii. 39, 40, "And I will give them 
one heart and one way, that they may fear me for 
ever, for the good of them and of their children after 
them ; and I will make an everlasting covenant with 
them, that I will not turn from them to do them 
good ; but I will put my fear in their hearts, and tney 
shall not depart from me." Ez. xxxvi.25, "Then will 
I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be 
clean ; from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, 
will I cleanse you. A new heart, also, will I give 
you, and a new spirit will I put within you ] and 1 
will take the stony heart out of your flesh, and 1 
will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my 
spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my 
statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do 
them." Dent. xxx. 6, " And the Lord thy God will^ 
circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to 
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with alj 
thy soul." Jer. h 20, "In those days, and at that 
time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be 
sought for, and there shall be none , and the sins of 
Judah, and they shall not be found." 1 Thess. v. 
23,24, "And the very God of peace sanctify you 
wholly; and I pray God your whole s})irit, and soul, 
and body, be preserved blameless unto the coming 
of our Lord Jesus Christ Faithful is he that calleth 



84 



CHRISTIA:S PERFECTiON. 



you, who also will do it." That Christ, as the Mediator 
of tiie new covenant, does, in these and kindred pas- 
sages, i)roniise to the believer all that the law re- 
quires of him, will a})i)ear perfectly evident from the 
following considerations : — 

1. This sentiment is in accordance with the most 
direct and obvious import of the i)hraseology em- 
j)loyed in such passages, — that meaning 1 refer to, 
which most naturally suggests itself to i)lain and un- 
lettered men, reading the sacred text without note or 
comment, and with their judgments unbiased by pre- 
conceived opinions. For such minds the Bible was 
wri;ten; and its im])ort to them, in the state referred 
to, is in accordance with the "mind of the Spirit." 

2. This is the construction which would, by all 
mankind, be put upon the same language, if found in 
any other book but the Bible. 

3. Let any minister, in any congregation in the 
land, use this identical language in the same full and 
unqualified manner in which the sacred writers use 
it, and their hearers will, with one voice, ciiarge him 
with holding the doctrine of Christian Perfection, as 
maintained in these discourses; so obvious is the 
import of such phraseology, when presented with- 
out qualification. 

4. All Christians admit that entire justification is 
promised in the new covenant, that the Bible teaches 
that heaven is a place of perfect holiness, and that 
Christ was free from all sin while on earth. Now, 
the same identical principles of interpretation, by 
which either of the above doctrines can be proved 
from the language of the Bible, demand the admis- 
sion of the doctrine under consideration, in all its 



THE NEW COVENAIST. 



85 



fulness. If the language employed in the above pas- 
sages does not sustain this doctrine, neither of the 
above doctrines can be sustained by the language of 
inspiration. Every candid reader of the Bible, w^ho 
will carefully study the sacred volume, vnth his eye 
upon the phraseology there employed, in reference 
to all these doctrines, will find the above affirmations 
fully sustained. 

5. The principles of interpretation by which it can 
be shown that the phraseology of the passages before 
us does not sustain the doctrine under consideration, 
would be equally conclusive against any other phrase- 
ology which the sacred writers could have employed, 
when from such phraseology this doctrine should be 
inferred. 

6. This is the very sentiment which is invariably 
impressed by the Spirit of God upon the young con- 
vert in the warmth of his early love. The language 
and sentiment of eveiy such heart is — 

Lord, I make a full surrender , 
Every thought and power be thine — 

Thine entirely^ — 
Through eternal ages thine." 

With the young convert, this is not a poetical 
hyperbole, but the real sentiment and conviction of 
the heart. Now, present to such a mind, in the 
unsophisticated warmth of its "first love," the exceed- 
ing great and precious promises of the new cove- 
nant, and how would he interpret them ? Who can 
doubt that he would understand them in conformity 
with the pure sentiments and convictions impressed 
upon his mind by the Spirit of God, in his conver- 
sion ? Such are the promises of the new covenant, 
8 



86 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



of which Christ is the Mediator. In looking to 
Christ lor the fulfilment of these })romises, would he 
not charge upon us the sin of unbelief, should we 
expect less from him than that he should " redeem 
us from all iniquity," and render us "perfect and 
comj)lete in all the will of God"? We come now 
to consider, 

in. The object of Christ in the provisions of 
divine grace. It is, to lay the foundation and provide 
the means for the fulfilment, in believers, of all that 
is promised in the new covenant; to wit, the full 
and entire pardon of all their sins, their redemption 
from all iniquity, their perfection in holiness, and 
their perfect and perpetual blessedness, in an eternal 
fruition of the divine presence and favor. 1 Pet. ii. 
24, "Who his own self bare our sins in his own 
body on the tree, that we, being dead to sin, migiit 
live unto righteousness ; by whose stripes ye were 
healed." Eph. v. 25 — 27, " Even as Christ also loved 
the church, and gave himself for it, that he might 
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by 
the word, that he might present it to himself a glo- 
rious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such 
thing ; but that it should be holy and without blem- 
ish." Tit. ii. 14, " Who gave himself for us, that he 
might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto 
himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." 
John iii. 16, 17, " For God so loved the world, that he 
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth 
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn 
the world, but that the world through him might be 



THE NEW COVENANT. 



87 



saved." Rom. viii. 3, "Forvi^hat the law could not 
do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God send- 
ing his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and 
for sin, condemned sin in the flesh ; that the right- 
eousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who 
walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." 1 John 
iii. 5, " And ye know that he was manifested to take 
away our sins ; and in him is no sin." 

Such is the design of Ciirist, in all the provisions 
of divine grace. It is to lay a broad foundation for the 
fulfilment, on his part, as the Mediator of the new 
covenant, of all the blessings promised in that cove- 
nant. This was the work which Christ undertook to 
accomplish, as the incarnate, atoning Savior; andy 
blessed be God, the work which he assumed in our 
behalf he finished. " I have finished the work which 
thou gavest me to do." "When Jesus therefore 
had received the vinegar, he said. It is finished; and 
he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost." 

Having finished this work, he now presents himself 
to us, as " able to save them to the uttermost that 
come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make 
intercession for us." We are permitted, by faith, to 
" behold his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of 
the Father, full of grace and truth." "And of his ful- 
ness we may all receive, and grace for grace." Listen, 
hearer, to the " gracious words which proceeded out 
of his mouth " as our high priest and intercessor, as 
the " Mediator of the new covenant." " I am the res- 
urrection and the life ; he that believeth in me, though 
he were dead, yet shall he live ; and whosoever liveth 
and believeth in me shall never die." " Come unto 
me, all ye that labor, and are lieiivy laden, and I will 



88 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of 
me ; for 1 am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall 
find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and 
my burden is light." "I will give to him that is 
athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely." 
We vrill now consider, 

IV. The conditions on which Christ w^ill fulfil in 
us what he has promised, as the Mediator of the new 
covenant. These conditions are distinctly stated in 
Ez. xxxvi. 37, Thus saith the Lord God, I will yet 
for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it 
for them." The things promised, permit me to re- 
mind the reader, are these — the unlimited pardon 
of all sin — entire redemption from the power of sin 
• — the perfect and perpetual subjection of all our pow- 
ers to the "whole will of God" — and the full and 
eternal fruition of the divine presence and favor. The 
condition, on which all this is promised, is, that God 
be " inquired of," through Christ, as the Mediator of 
the new covenant, " to do it for us." Now inquiring of 
Christ for those blessings, implies, 

1. A cons piousness of our need of divine grace 

— of our infinite guilt and hopeless bondage under sin 

— of the absolute hopelessness of our securing either 
of these blessings, through any unaided efforts of our 
own. 

2, Confidence unshaken in Christ's ability and will- 
ingness to do all this for us. Suppose Christ should 
address you as he did one of old in respect to another 
subject, — "Believest thou that 1 am able to do this ? " 
"Do you believe that I am now standing at the door 
and knocking, and that, if you will hear my voice, and 



THE NEW COVE.NANT. 



89 



open the door, I will come in and sup with you, and 
you with me," and confer upon you this full and fin- 
ished redemption? What would be your answer? 
Could your soul settle down immovably upon the 
affirmation, " Lord, I believe " ? 

3. A preference of these blessings above all objects 
in ex'stence. Suppose God should call upon you to 
lift your heart to his throne, and ask of him what bless- 
ing you [)leased. Would your mind fasten upon a 
heart perfectly pure, together with its consequences, 
as the " pearl of great price," as the treasure in com- 
parison with which all other objects are, in your esti- 
mation, " but loss " ? If this isyour state of mind, there 
is but one thing more to be done, which is this — * 

4. An actual reception of Christ, and reliance upon 
him for all these blessings, in all their fulness — a sur- 
render of your whole being to him, that he may ac- 
complish in you all the "exceeding great and precious 
promises" of the new covenant. Wlien this is done 
— when there is that full and implicit reliance upon 
Christ, for the entire fulfilment of ail that he has prom- 
ised — he becomes directly responsible for our full 
and complete redemption. "He that believeth in me, 
though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whoso- 
ever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." To 
us his word stands pledged to " put the laws of God 
in our minds, and write them ui our hearts;" to "cir- 
cumcise our heart and the heart of our seed, to love 
the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our 
soul ;" to "sprinkle clean water upon us, so that we 
shall be clean ;" to "give us one heart and one way, 
that we may fear God forever ; to make an everlasting 

8* 



do CHRISTIAiV PERFEC'riOJ*!. 

covenant with us, that he will not turn away from us 
to do us good, but that he will put the fear of God in 
our hearts, that we may not depart from him; finally, 
to "sanctify us wholl}', and preserve our whole spirit, 
and soul, and body, blameless unto the coming of our 
Lord Jesus Christ." Reader, " believest thou this ? " 
Can you open your mouth thus wide ? Dare you ask, 
or expect, from your Redeemer, less than this ? Me- 
thinks 1 hear that Redeemer asking you the question, 
" Do you now believe ? " " According to thy faith, be it 
unto thee." Reader, let me ask you again, Do you de- 
sire to be imbued with a filial, confiding, and obedient 
spirit towards God, to be brought into such a state, 
that your heart's purest and best affections shall spon- 
taneously flow out towards Christ, and the " peace of 
God, which passeth all understanding, keep your heart 
and mind through Christ Jesus"? Christ is now 
present in your heart, and ready to confer all this pu- 
rity and blessedness upon you, if you can believe that 
he is able and willing to do it for you, and will cast 
your entire being upon his faithfulness. To you he 
says, "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to 
him that believeth." Come to the fountain, reader, 
and "wash your garments and make them white in 
the blood of the Lamb." " Christ bore your sins in 
his own body on the tree, that you, being dead to sin, 
might live unto righteousness." Why should you any 
longer bear the burden of those sins ? especially when 
Christ, in view of the provisions of his grace, calls 
upon you to "reckon yourself dead, indeed unto 
sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Chi'ist your 
Lord." 



THE NEW COVEI^ANT. 



91 



REMARKS. 

I. We may now understand the reason why Christ 
himself prayed, and taught his church to pray, and 
why the Holy Spirit constantly influences inspired 
men to pray, for this one specific blessing — entire 
perfection in holiness ; also why this is required of 
us, as Christians, and such rewards are held before 
us to induce us thus to consecrate ourselves to Christ. 
Such prayers, commands, and motives, are all based 
upon the provisions and promises of divine grace, 
which secure to the believer, on condition of his faith, 
this very blessing; and are designed to raise the 
church to a comprehension of the " fulness that she 
has in Christ," that she may take possession of her 
purchased and promised inheritance. We are taught 
to pray for this blessing, and such a state is required 
of us, because provision is made, in the gospel, for 
God to answer such prayers, when we " ask in faith, 
nothing wavering," and for us to attain to that state, 
by casting ourselves, in the exercise of simple faith, 
upon the power and faithfulness of Christ. 

n. We learn how to understand and apply such 
declarations of Scripture as the following — "Wash 
you, make you clean ; " " Make to yourselves a new 
heart and a new spirit ; " " Let us cleanse ourselves 
from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit," &c. The 
common impression seems to be, that men are re- 
quired to do all this, in the exercise of their own un- 
aided powers ; and because the sinner fails to comply, 
grace comes in, and supplies the condition in the case 
of Christians. Now, I suppose that all such com- 



92 



CHRISTIAIN' FERFECliON. 



mands are based upon the provisions of divine grace. 
The sinner is not required to " make himself clean," 
or to "make to himself anew heart," in the exercise, 
of his unaided powers, but by application to the 
Wood of Christ, " which cleanseth from all sin." The 
grace which purifieth the heart is provided ; the foun- 
tain, whose waters cleanse from sin, is set open. To 
this fountain the creature is brought, and because he 
may descend into it, and there "wash his garments 
and make them white," he is met with the command, 
" Wash you, make you clean," " make to yourself a 
new heart and a new spirit," and " cleanse yourself 
from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit." The sinner 
is able to make to himself a "new heart and a new ! 
spirit," because he can instantly avail himself of 
proffered grace. He does literally " make to himself i 
a new heart and a new spirit," when he yields 
himself up to the influence of that grace. The 
power to cleanse from sin lies in the blood and grace | f 
of Christ; and hence, when the sinner "purifies 1 
himself by obeying the truth through the spirit," the c 
glory of his salvation belongs, not to him, but to | i 
Christ. ' 

Herein also lies the ability of the creature to obey i 
the commands of God, addressed to us as redeemed j Is 
sinners. "He that abideth in me, and I in him, the | ci 
same bringeth forth much fruit ; for without me ye «] 
can do nothing." "As the branch cannot bear fruit of 
of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, | on 
except ye abide in me." These declarations are ! pr 
literally and unqualifiedly true. We can " abide in j Ci 
Christ," and thus bring forth the fruit required of us. | 
If by unbelief we separate ourselves from Christ, we ; ' 



THE NEW COVENANT. 



93 



of necessity descend, under the weight of our own 
guilt and depravity, down the sides of the pit, into the 
eternal sepulchi'e. 

m. In view of the provision of divine grace for our 
full redemption, and of the promises of Christ, as the 
Mediator of the new covenant, to that effect, I would 
remark, that a state of entire sanctification is, and 
appears to be, the most natural and simple form of 
Christian experience — the form which we ought to 
expect to find most common in the church. If Christ 
has made provision for our entire sanctification, and 
promised thus to sanctify us, on condition of faith in 
hini on our part, that any sincere Christian, who is 
aware of his privileges, should ask for, or expect less 
from him, is the most unnatural form of Christian 
experience conceivable, and one whose occurrence, 
we should think, would be regarded as a strange 
anomaly among the disciples of such a Savior. So 1 
have no doubt it will be regarded, when Christians 
come to a full understanding of their " completeness " 
in Christ. 

rV. We are now prepared to contemplate the re- 
lation between the views maintained in these dis- 
courses, and those very commonly held by Christians 
upon the same subject. In reference to the standard 
of moral obligation there is a perfect agreement. The 
only existing difference respects the extent of the 
provisions and promises of divine grace, in respect to 
Christians in this life. 

V. We are also prepared to estimate the difficulties 



94 



CHRISTIAJS PERFECTION. 



in which the common theoiy is involved. I vrill 
specify a few of them. 

1. The advocates of the common theory maintain, 
that the sacred writers designed to teach the doctrine, 
that no individual ever attains to a state of entire sauc- 
tification in tliis life ; while it was their object to teach 
the fact, that Christ was free from all sin, that all Chris- 
tians are perfectly justified here, and will be perfectly 
sanctified in a fuiure state, and that perfect holiness is 
required of us in this life. Now, if the above posi- 
tions are true, how can we account for the strange 
fact, that the same identical principles of interpreta- 
tion, by which either ol the doctrines last mentioned 
can be proved from the j)hraseology of the sacred 
writers, demand, when applied to the phraseology 
whicli they employed in expressing the nature and ex- 
tent cf the provisions and promises of divine grace, 
the admission of tlie principle, that entire holiness is 
attainable in this life ? — a principle precisely opposite 
to the one which, it is maintained, they intended to 
teach. Again, how can we account for the fact, in 
consistency with the common theory, that the sacred 
writers employed a phraseology which, if found in 
any other book, or if now used by individuals in the 
same unqualified manner as used by them, would be 
universally understood to affirm the doctrine main- 
tained in these discourses ? Would the sacred wri- 
ters have employed such a singular phraseology as 
this, had it been their object, as the advocates of the 
common theory affirm, to impress their readers with 
the conviction, that perfect holiness is, in this life, un- 
attainable ? Again, no phraseology conceivable is more 
perfectly adapted to convey the sentiment maintained 



THE NEW COVE^'ANT. 



95 



in these discourses, than thai employed by the sacred 
writers. To draw any other doctrine from it, it must 
be narrowed down, and regarded as altogether hyper 
bolical. Now, how can we account for the strange 
anomaly, that inspired men adopted a phraseology 
adapted to convey one sentiment, and that only, when, 
as the common theory affirms, their definite object 
was, to convey precisely the opposite sentiment? 
These are some of the difficulties in which the com- 
mon theory is inextricably involved, as far as the laws 
of interpretation are concerned. 

2. That Christ prayed, and taught his church to pray, 
and that the Holy Spirit inspired and influenced the 
apostles and priiriiiive Christians to pray, continually 
and fervently, for this one specilic object — the entire 
sanctification of believers in this life — all admit. Ac- 
cording to the common theory, it was a prime object 
of the sacred writers to impress their readers and 
liearers with the conviction, that such prayers will 
never be answered by the bestowanent of the blessing 
desired. How can we account for such prayers, in 
consistency with such an object ? Above all, how 
shall we account for the fact, that Christ and inspired 
men prayed for one specific blessing — the entire sanc- 
tification of believers in this life — when their intention 
was, to impress us with the conviction, that such a 
blessing will not be conferred ; while they did not 
pray for another blessing — the partial holiness of the 
Christian — when their design was to impress us with 
the conviction, that this blessing is agreeable to the 
will of God ? 

3. All admit that the richest blessings are promised 
to us on the specific condition of perfect holiness» 



96 



CHRISTIAJN PERFECTION. 



According to the common theory, the sacred writers 
designed to impress their readers with the conviction, 
that this is a condition with which they will never in 
this life comply. How, as asked in a former discourse, 
can such a fact be accounted for, in consistency with 
the sincerity and love of God ? 

4. According to the common theory, God requires 
us, in the most solemn manner conceivable, to be per- 
fectly holy, and then, in a manner equally solemn, re- 
quires us to believe, that with such commands we 
shall not comply. How can such a fact be explained? 

5. Certain maxims, which have been almost univer- 
sally regarded as of fundamental importance to effi- 
cient action, not only in religion, but other subjects, 
present difficulties equally inex[)licable in consistency 
with the common theory. For example, " What ought 
to be done, may be done," i. e., we should expect to 
do. " God bestows upon eveiy one as much holintss 
and })eace, as he sincerely desires and prays for." Sup- 
pose, that with these maxims before me, I am met by 
the command, " Be ye therefore perfect, even as your 
Father in heaven is perfect." Suppose, that in view 
of this command, I lift my heart in honest and fervent 
sincerity to God, for grace to keep that command. 
Now, under such circumstances, the advocates of the 
common theory must either give up the above maxims 
altogether, or admit the attainableness of entire sanc- 
tification in this life. 

6. According to the common theoiy, we are required 
to aim at perfection in holiness, and at the same time, 
as shown in a former discourse, to believe that such a 
state is unattainable — a belief which renders the for- 
mation of the intention required an impossibility. 



THE NEW COVEiVAIVT. 



97 



7. The advocates of the conimon theory generally 
admit, that perfection in holiness is attainable in this 
life ; but at the same time maintain, that it is never 
attained^ and that it is a great error to suppose that it 
is attained. Now, what evidence can we have, that 
such state is unattainable, higher than this, that all 
Christians, in all past ages, have honestly and prayer- 
fully aimed, and all will continue, to the end of time, 
thus to aim at this state, a fact which all admit, with 
the absolute certainty of not attaining to it? Should 
it be said, that such efforts are not made with suffi- 
cient vigor ; the answer is, that, to put forth efforts with 
the adequate vigor, is the very thing at which all are 
aiming. On the supposition above referred to, how 
can the position he sustained, that the state under con- 
sideration is attainable ? 

The sinner, it is said, in illustration of the position 
that perfection in holiness is attainable, but never at- 
tained, is able to repent, in the absence of special 
grace, though he never will do it. To make the cases 
parallel, let us suppose, that all sinners, in the absence 
of such grace, are honestly and prayerfully striving 
after holiness ; with the absolute certainty of not, in 
the circumstances supposed, attaining it. With what 
proprietj^, I ask, could it, then, be said, that holiness is 
practicable to the sinner, in the absence of special 
grace. What is here supposed of the sinner, is actu- 
ally true of every sincere Christian. Paul, for exam- 
ple, for the space of thirty or forty years, aimed stead- 
ily and prayerfully at this one definite state, and that, 
according to the sentiment under consideration, with 
the absolute certainty of falling short of his object. 
The same experiment, and with the same result, every 
9 



98 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTIO-V. 



Christian lias repeated, and every true Chri:>tian will 
continue to repeat to the end of time. Yet, it is said, 
to attain to that state, is to every individual, at every 
moment, perfectly practicable. What conceivable 
meaning do such persons attach to the terms "attaina- 
ble " and " practicable," when so used ? The advocates 
of the common theory are sacredly bound to take the 
ground, that the state under consideration is not atr 
tainable, in any appropriate sense of the term. 

VI. We are now prepared to understand the nature 
and character of the Antinomian, legal, and evangel- 
ical spirit. 

The Ant'nomian spirit relies upon Christ for justi" 
Jication, in the absence of personal holiness, or sanc- 
tification. It looks to him to be saved in and not from 
sin. 

The legal spirit assumes two forms — 1. It expects 
justification and sanctification both through deeds of 
the law. This is the spirit of the ancient Pharisee 
and modern moralist. 2. It expects juslification from 
Christ, and sanctification from personal effort. Under 
the influence of this spirit, an individual will be per- 
petually and vainly struggling, by dint of resolutions, 
against the resistless current of carnal propensities. 
In this hopeless bondage he cries out, " Who shall 
deliver nie from the body of this death ?" 

The evangelical spirit looks to Christ alike for jus- 
tification and sanctification both, and, by implicit faith 
in him, obtains a blissful victory over the " worid, the 
flesh, and the devil." It is the "spirit of adoption" 
whif^h cries, "Abba, Father," and in that cry, seeks and 
obtains deliverance from the "bondage of corruption, 



THE NEW COVENANT. 



99 



into the glorious liberty of the children of God." The 
Antinoinian spirit is the stagnation of the moral 
powers in a state of spiritual death. The evangelical 
spirit is their full, and free, and perpetual action, in a 
state of life and peace. While the legal spirit, in its 
hopeless struggle with the flesh, cries out, " O wretched 
man that 1 am ! who shall deliver me from the body 
of this death the evangelical spirit, in the triumph 
of faith, exclaims, " I thank God, through Jesus Christ 
our Lord." The legal spirit, crying, 

" Where is the blessedness I knew, 
When first I saw the Lord ? " 

looks back to its first love, ns the brightest spot in its 
whole experience, for it wtis then joined with another 
spirit than itself. The evf^Jigelical spirit, with its eye 
steadily fixed upon the " bright and morning star," 
moves peacefully and perpetually onward, in a path 
which " shines brighter and brighter unto the perfect 
day." The legal spirit, " vainly puffed up," notwith- 
standing its perpetual short comings, "with its fleshly 
mind," in view of a few fancied attainments, made by 
dint of resolution, exclaims to the stander-by, "Stand 
by thyself; I am holier than thou." The evangelical 
spirit, overwhelmed with a sense of the grace of God 
in its redemption, exclaims, " Behold what manner of 
love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should 
be called the sons of God ! " " Not for works of right- 
eousness which we have done, but according to his 
mercy, hath he saved us." 

" Infinite g^race to vileness given, 

The sons of earth made heirs of heaven." 

In short the Antinomian spirit is the spirit of spiritual 



100 CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 

- # 

death. The legal spirit is the " spirit of bondage." 
The evangelical spirit is the " glorious libert}' of the 
children of God." 

VIL We are now prepared for a distinct contem- 
plation of the grand mistake, inco which the great 
mass of Christians appear to have fallen, in respect 
to the gospel of Christ. It is this : Expecting to ob- 
tain justification^ and not, at the same time, and to the 
same extent, sandification, by faith in Christ. Where 
is the Christian who can say from experience, " This 
is the victory that overcometh the world, even our 
faith " ? When do we hear the convert, for example, 
directed to faith in Christ, as the certain means of 
subduing his temper, subjecting liis appetites, crucify- 
ing his sinful propensities, overcoming the great 
enemy, "fulfilling the righteousness of the law," 
and enjoying perpetual and perfect peace and bless- 
edness in God ? An almost entire new leaf will be 
turned over in Christian experience when the church 
knows Christ as such a Savior. 

The consequence of the mistake under considera- 
tion, is what might be expected. The great mass of 
the church are slumbering in Antinomian death ; or 
struggling in legal bondage, with barely enough of the 
evangelical spirit to keep the pulse of spiritual life 
faintly beating. When will the church arise from 
this state of gloom, and death, and barrenness, to an 
apprehension and enjoyment of her privileges in 
Christ, as the Mediator of the new covenant? 

Vin. We are also prepared to account for a 
melancholy fact which characterizes different stages 



THE NEW COVENANT. 



101 



of the experience of the great mass of Christians. 
From the evangelical simplicity of their first love, 
they pass into a state of legal hondage, and after a 
fruitless struggle of vain resolutions with the " w^orld, 
the flesh, and the devil," they appear to descend into 
a kind of Antinomian death. The reason why Chris- 
tian experience takes such a course, I suppose to be 
this : The young convert, in the first instance, is turned 
away from Christ, to his own resolutions, &c., as the 
means of continuance in the path of life, and this with 
the assurance that his carnal propensities will never 
be fully crucified, till death shall release the captive. 
Thus he is very soon conducted into the region of 
legalism, with the atmosphere around him already 
charged to no small extent with the cho.erless, deaden- 
ing vapors of Antinomianism. Here, after a vain 
struggle of longer or shorter continuance, with sin 
and sinful propensities, the spirit of Antinomian 
slumber prevails, and death, and not a present Christ, 
is looked for, as the great deliverer from bondage. 
This direction Christian experience will unchangeably 
take, till Christians fully understand the import of the 
question, " Who is he that overcometh the world, but 
he that believeth that Jesus is the Christ ? " 

IX. We are now fully prepared to understand the 
design of Paul in the 7th and 8th chapters of Ro- 
mans. The whole epistle is mainly directed against 
two fundamental errors of the Jews, to wit, that jus- 
tification and sanctification are both to be obtained 
by deeds of law. The first error he explodes in the 
preceding chapters, showing the hopeless condemna- 
tion of all men under the law, and their entire justi- 
fication through faith in Christ. In chapters vii. and 



102 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



viiL, he pursues a course in regard to sandijication, 
precisely similar to what he had done in the chapters 
preceding, in regard to justification. His object is, to 
contrast the hopeless bondage, and fruitless struggle 
of the creature after holiness, under the old covenant, 
or moral law, with his perfect liberty, blessedness, and 
safety, under the new covenant. As the apostle had 
himself fully tested the influence of both covenants 
upon men as sinners, he gives us his own experi- 
ence ; first, as a Pharisee under the old, and secondly, 
as a Christian under the new covenant. Under the 
former, he says, notwithstanding the law is good, and 
I delight in it "after the inward man," and often 
resolve to keep its pure requisitions, still " I am car- 
nal, sold under sin." "The good that 1 would, I do 
not, but the evil that I would not, that I do." Under 
the new covenant, on the other hand, I am " free 
from the law of sin and death," breathe the " spirit 
of adoption," am free from all condemnation, pos- 
sess a hope sure and steadfast, and am an "heir of 
God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ." In short, 
in chapter vii. he gives us a view of the bondage of 
the legal spirit, in its fruitless struggle against the 
current of carnal propensities. In the 8th, he gives 
us the triumph and freedom of the evangelical spirit, 
through faith in Christ, as the " Mediator of the new 
covenant." 

X. We now see the reason why most professors 
of religion find their own experience portrayed in 
the 7th, instead of the 8th chapter of Romans. One 
of two reasons must be assigned for this melancholy 
fact. Either they have never known any other than 
the legal spirit, or else, " having begun in the spirit," 



THE NEW COVENANT. ICft 

tliey are engaged in a vain struggle to be "made 
perfect in the flesh." In other vv^ords, they are now 
in legal bondage. To Christ, as a sanctifying Savior, 
as the " Mediator of the new^ covenant," they are, 
comparatively speaking, strangers. When they thus 
know Christ, they will find their experience por- 
trayed in another and different chapter than the one 
now under consideration. 



XL Finally, we may now contemplate the reason 
why, to most Christians, the idea of arriving to a state 
of entire sanctification in this life, appears so chi- 
merical. With the views commonly entertained of 
the power of the gospel, and of the means of holi- 
ness, the thought of arriving to such a state is one of 
the most chimerical ideas that ever entered the hu- 
man mind. If there is no other means of coming 
into that state, but by forcing my way, by dint of per- 
sonal effort, through the dead sea of my carnal pro- 
pensities, I may as well give over the struggle fii*st as 
last. Whatever my natural powers may be, a victory 
1 shall never obtain in this manner. But if, on the 
other hand, I am permitted to hear the voice of Christ 
saying, Look to me, and I will enter into a covenant 
with you, that I will myself " circumcise thy heart 
to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and 
with all thy soul," that I will " redeem you from all 
mjquity," and cause you to stand " perfect and com- 
plete in all the will of God," then I find myself stand- 
ing in an entirely different relation to the state under 
consideration. The condition on which all this bless- 
edness is promised I can perform. I can as easily 
look to Christ for perfect, as for partial holiness; 
and when my faith hangs upon him for a f\ilfiim©nt 



104 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



of all that he has promised, he has mercifully as- 
sumed the responsibility of doing for me according 
to the faith which his own spirit has induced me to 
exercise. 

Christian, " you have not come unto the mount that 
might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto 
blackness, and darkness, and tempest, arid the sound 
of a trumpet, and the voice of words ; which voice 
they that heard entreated that the word should not 
be spoken unto them any more. For they could not 
endure that which was commanded — And if so much 
as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or 
thrust through with a dart ; and so terrible was the 
sight, that even Moses said, I exceedingly fear and 
quake. But ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto 
the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, 
and to an innumerable company of angels, to the 
general assembly and church of the first born which 
are written in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, 
and to the spirits of the just made perfect ; and to 
Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the 
blood of sprinkling, which speaketh better things than 
the blood of Abel. See that ye refuse not him that 
speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him 
that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if 
we turn aw^ay from him that speaketh from heaven." 
To this "blood of sprinkling," let us come and "wash 
our garments, and make them white," and then lift 
our hearts to heaven, and exclaim, "Unto him that 
loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own 
blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God 
and his Father ; to him be glory and dominion forever 
and ever. Amen." 



DISCOURSE V. 



FULL REDEMPTION IN CHRIST. 

" Wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost, that come 
unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for 
them." — //e6. vii. 25. 

But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, 
shall never thirst ; but the water that I shall give him, shall be in 
him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." — John 
iv. 14. 

In remarking upon these passages, the attention of 
the reader is invited to a consideration of the follow- 
mg propositions, which it will be my object to illus- 
trate and establish. 

L Christ presents himself to us as a Savior in this 
sense, that he is both able and willing to meet fully 
every real demand of our being; in other words, 
perfectly to supply all our real necessities. 

n. We will notice some of the demands of our 
nature, which Christ pledges himself to meet. 

ni. Illustrate the nature of faith in Christ as such 
a Savior. 

IV. I will endeavor to show that the object of 
Christ, in all his dispensations toward his people, is 
to induce in them the exercise of this implicit faith 
towards him. 

V. That it is only when this implicit faith is exer- 



106 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



cised towards Christ, that he can accomplish in us all 
that he has promised. 

VL That Christians honor Christ most highly, 
when, and only when, they rely upon him for an en- 
tire fulfilment in them of all that he has promised. 

I. Christ presents himself to us as a Savior, in this 
sense, that he is both able and willing to meet fully 
every real demand of our being ; in other words, per- 
fectly to supply all our real necessities. The truth 
of this proposition I argue, 

1. From the fact that it is positively promised in 
the text, and elsewhere in the Bible. " He is able to 
save them to the uttermost that come unto God by 
him." " Whosoever shall drink of the water that 1 
«5hall give him shall never thirst;" i. e., all his real 
necessities shall be perfectly supplied. Phil. iv. 19, 
" But my God shall supply all your need according to 
hi^ riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Ps. Ixxxiv. 11, 
" For the Lord God is a sun and shield ; the Lord 
will give grace and glory ; no good thing will he 
withhold from them that walk uprightly." Rom. viii. 
32, " He that spared not his own Son, but delivered 
him up for us all, how shall he not with him also 
freely give us all things ? " 

2. On this condition, only, can Christ claim to be 
unto us the object of supreme regard. If there is 
any real demand of our nature, which he is unable 
or unwilling to meet, for the supply of that demand, 
we should look to some other source. 

3. Christ is infinite in power and love ; and there- 
fore must be both able and willing thus to " supply 
our need." 



FULL REDEMPTION 



107 



n. We will now consider some of the demands 
of our being, which Christ pledges himself to meet. 
All the real demands of our nature are comprehended 
in these two — a state of perfect moral purity and 
blessedness. That these may be possessed in all 
their fulness, the following special demands must be 
met : — 

1. As sinners, we need pardon. Till we are con- 
scious that God has forgiven our sins, and fully re- 
stored us to his favor, a state of well-being is, with 
us, an absolute impossibility. To meet this demand, 
Christ presents himself to us as our " Advocate with 
the Father," and as the "propitiation for our sins." 
"Being justified by faith, we have peace with God 
through our Lord Jesus Christ." " And not only so, 
but we also joy in God, through our Lord Jesus 
Christ, by whom we have now received the atone- 
ment." 

2. Another demand of om' nature is, entire deliver- 
ance fi'om the power of sin, into a state of conscious, 
perfect moral rectitude. In every condition, actual 
and conceivable, this is a changeless demand of our 
being. Until it is met, and perfectly met, the want 
of it will, of necessity, render our minds " like the 
troubled sea." To meet this demand, Christ presents 
himself as able and willing to " redeem us from all 
iniquity," and render us "perfect and complete in all 
the will of God." 

3. Another demand of our nature is. conscious 
security against all the temptations to sin, from the 
"world, the flesh, and the devil." To meet this de- 
mand, the Savior pledges himself that " he will not 
suffer us to be tempted above that we are able, but 



108 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



will with the temptation make a way to escape, that 
we may be able to bear it." He presents us with the 
armor of righteousness, assuring us that, if we will 
" put on the whole armor of God," we shall be " able 
to stand against all the wiles of the devil." 

4. Another fundamental demand of our being is, 
a love of knowledge. In view of this demand, Christ 
holds before our minds the declaration of eternal 
love — " And this is life eternal, that they might know 
thee, the only true God, and Jesus, whom he hath 
sent " — and then presents himself to us, as able and 
willing, through his Spirit, to communicate this 
knowledge to us. 

5. To a state of perfect well-being, the friendship 
and favor of other minds is an indispensable requisite. 
To supply this want of our being, he holds before us 
the divine declaration, "I will dwell in them and walk 
ui them ; " " And will be a father unto you, and ye 
shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord 
Almighty." He then lifts our contemplation to the 
eternal throne, and pledges himself to introduce us 
to an endless and blissful association with the pure 
spirits that are congregated there. 

6. We have also certain demands through our 
physical constitution, which need to be met. To 
meet these, Christ stands ready to do for us tlje 
following things : — 1. To render us perfectly content- 
ed with our circumstances, whatever they may be. 
2. To render us in the highest sense blessed, in what 
infinite love actually confers upon us. The saint who 
could sit down to her meal, which consisted barely 
of a cup of water and a few dry crusts of bread, and 
lift her heart to heaven with the exclamation, "All 



FULL REDEMPTION. 



109 



this, Lord, and Jesus, too," hardly needed another in- 
gredient to her cup of blessedness, to cause it to over- 
flow. 3. To bestow upon us all that will be to us, in 
our circumstances, a real blessing. "Seek first the 
kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these 
things shall be added unto you." 4. To cause "all 
things to work together for our good." 

7. I notice but one other demand of our nature 
which is met in Christ, which is this — an assured hope 
of a peaceful death and a glorious immortality. To 
meet this demand,he spreads before us the following as- 
surance — " In my Father's house are many mansions : 
if it were not so, I would have told you. 1 goto pre- 
pare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place 
for you, I will come again and receive you unto my- 
self, that where I am there ye may be also." With 
what infinite sweetness can we pillow our heads upon 
such a pledge as this. 

Such, Christian, is the fulness that dwells in Christ 
for you. Such, also, is your completeness in him. In 
view of this fulness, this perfect completeness, he 
claims to be the sun and centre of your soul. " To 
whom shall we go," blessed Jesus, but unto thee ? 
" Thou hast the words of eternal life. And v^e be- 
lieve, and are sure, that thou art the Christ, the Son of 
the living God." 

in. We are now prepared for our third inquiry, 
which is, The nature of faith in Christ as such a Sa- 
vior, It implies, 1. A consciousness of infinite guilt, 
poverty, and helplessness in ourselves. 2. The ap- 
prehension of Christ as a present Savior, able and 
willing to meet all the demands of our being, as de* 
10 



110 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION* 



scribed above. 3. The actual reception of him, and 
cordial and voluntary surrender of our whole being 
to his control, that he may accomplish in us all that 
he has promised to those " who come unto God by 
him." The individual that knows and believes the 
"love that the Father hath unto us;" that relies with 
implicit confidence upon the absolute truth and recti- 
tude of all that Christ has affirmed, and casts all his 
powers and interests upon his faithfulness, with the 
peaceful expectation of reahzing, in his own experi- 
ence, a blessed fulfilment of all that He has promised, 
— such an individual exercises that faith, by which we 
are told the "just shall live." This leads me to re- 
mark, 

IV. That the object of Christ, in his dispensations 
and teachings, is, to induce in us the exercise of this 
implicit faith in himself. A bare allusion to a few cir- 
cumstances in the life of our Savior will affiird a suf- 
ficient illustration of this part of our subject; for 
example, 1 . The promptness with which he invariably 
granted the requests of those who cast themselves 
with implicit faith upon his power and faithfulness, 
together with the commendation which he always 
bestowed upon such acts of confidence. 2, The fact 
that he always required such confidence, as a condi- 
tion of extending relief, by the exertion of miraculous 
power. " If thou canst believe, all things are possible 
to him that believeth." 3. His perpetual reference to 
the unbelief of his disciples, as the cause of their 
failure to perform miracles, of their fear in the tem- 
pest, and of their carefulness in respect to the supply 
of their temporal necessities. 4. The repeated assur- 



FliLL KEDE3IPTIO.N. 



Ill 



ances lliat he gave them, that, if they would only ex- 
ercise this implicit faith in him, " nothing should be 
impossible to them." 5. The manner in which he 
sent them forth to preach, and then asking them, at 
the close of his ministry, whether, in going out under 
his protection, as "sheep in the midst of wolves," 
without any provision at all for their wants, they had 
lacked any thing. One object is perfectly visible in 
all these instances, which was, to break their hold of 
every other object, and to lead them to hang their en- 
tire being, with implicit trust, upon his power and 
faithfulness. Such was the single object of his entire 
course of treatment, in respect to his disciples and 
hearers while on earth. The same object. Christian, 
he is now pursuing tow ards you. When unbelief has 
disappeared from your heart ; when you will " credit all 
that he has said when you shall calmly and peace- 
fully repose all your powers and interests upon his 
faithful word — then his object in respect to you is ac- 
complished. Then he will open the fountains of eter- 
nal love, and let its life-giving waters flow in upon 
you forever. He then can and will accomplish in 
you all that infinite love desires. " Said I not unto 
thee, that if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldst see 
the glory of God ? " 

V. I am now to show, that it is only when this im- 
plicit confidence is exercised towards Christ, as a Sa- 
vior able and willing to meet all our necessitios, that 
he can accomplish in us all that he has promised. 
How else, for example, can he preserve us, free from 
all care, and " keep us in perfect peace " ? While the 
mind reposes with unwavering trust in his ability and 



112 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



faithfulness to meet all its necessities, the necessary 
result is a state of perfect quietude. Distrust, on the 
other hand, as necessarily throws the mind into a state 
of agitation. The little child could be preserved in a 
state of perfect peace, in the midst of the wildest fury 
of the hurricane, by the thought that his father held 
the helm, so long, and so long only, as he reposed im- 
plicit confidence in that father's ability and faithful- 
ness to guide the vessel through the storm. So of the 
Christian : Christ will " keep those in perfect peace," 
whose minds are stayed on him, because they trust in 
him. To keep the mind thus, while in a state of dis- 
trust, is an absolute impossibility. 

For the same reason, it is impossible for Christ to be 
unto us an object of supreme love and delight, until 
we are brought to confide in him as being such a Sa 
vior as he represents himself to be. Then, and then 
only, can he stir up the deep fountains of feeling with- 
in us, and cause the tide of love and blessedness to 
roll on forever. 

How, it may further be asked, is it possible for 
Christ to bring us into a state of perfect obedience to 
his will, until we are induced to exercise implicit con- 
fidence in the absolute wisdom and rectitude of his 
requisitions ? Whatever Christ does for us as a Sa- 
vior, he does, and must do, on one condition only — that 
confidence implicit is reposed in his ability and faith- 
fulness to meet and supply our necessities. The ex- 
perience of every individual will present a perfect 
verification of his declarations — "I am the resurrec- 
tion and the life ; he that believeth in me, though he 
were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth 
and believeth in me shall never die," On the other 



rUiL REDEMFTIOX. 



113 



hand, " If ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in 
your sins." 

VI. Lastly, I am to show, that Christians honor 
Christ the most highly, when, and only when, they 
rely upon him for an entire fulfilment in them of all 
that he has promised, i. e., to supply all their real ne- 
cessities. The more enlarged and confiding their ex- 
pectations, the higher the honor they confer upon him. 
This is evident from the following considerations : — 

1. They then, and then only, give him full and per- 
fect credit for veracity in the testimony which he has 
given respecting himself Such a Savior he repre- 
sents himself to be. When we trust him with full 
and perfect confidence as such a Savior, we honor 
him as a " faithful and true witness." Unbelief, a want 
of this implicit confidence, casts the highest possible 
dishonor upon Christ, because it practically afiirms, 
that he is not what he has declared himself to be. 

2. Jn the exercise of this full and implicit confidence 
in Christ as a perfect Savior, we honor, in the highest 
possible degree, his benevolence, his mej cy, his love. 
To expect less from Christ than a full supply of all 
our necessities,^ is to afiirm, that his love is not infinite. 

3. In the exercise of this confidence only, we give 
him credit for being a perfect Savior. If there is a sol- 
itary demand of our being, which he is not able and 
willing to meet, he is so far, as a Savior, imperfect. 

Do you wish, Christian, to put the highest possible 
honor upon Christ? "Open your mouth wide," with 
the joyful confidence that he "will fill it." Cast all 
your cares upon him. Believe that in him you are 
** complete," and seek and expect from him the most 
10* 



114 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



perfect fulness. When you expect from him less than 
this, you cast reproach upon his character for veracity 
and faithfuhiess, as possessed of hifinite love, as an 
all-pov^^erful and perfect Savior. You affirm that " in 
him all fulness " does not dwell. You wound his heart 
of love. You " grieve his Holy Spirit." You put out 
the light of your own soul. 

REMARKS. 

I. We may now understand the distinction between 
perfect and imperfect faith. They are not distin- 
guished, I suppose, by this, that in reference to the 
same object, and the same feature of Christ's charac- 
ter, the mind may be in a state of trust and distrust 
at one and the same moment. Our faith may be im- 
perfect for two reasons — ^1. We may repose confi- 
dence in one, and not in every feature of Christ's 
character as a Savior. For example, the mind, in con- 
sequence of ignorance of the perfect fulness of Christ's 
redemption in all respects, may repose full confidence 
in Christ as a justifying^ but not as a sanctifying Sa- 
vior. 2. For the same reason, the mind may repose 
confidence in Christ, for sustaining grace, in one con- 
dition in life, and not in another. We may, for exam- 
ple, expect Christ to bless us in our closets, but not in 
the midst of our business transactions. The faith of 
all such persons is imperfect. Perfect faith, on the 
other hand, is a full and unshaken confidence in 
Christ, as in all respects, at all times, and in every 
condition, a full and perfect Savior, a Savior able and 
willing to meet every possible demand of our being. 



FULL REDEMPTION. 



115 



11. We also see how it was, that Satan effected the 
ruin of our first parents. It was by persuading them, 
that there was one fundamental demand of their being 

— a love of knowledge — which God did not design to 
meet; and by inducing them to attempt to supply that 
demand by transgressing the divine prohibition. In 
this state of distrust of God's power or willingness to 
meet and supply all their necessities, all mankind now 
are by nature ; and this distrust is the sole cause of 
every act of disobedience on earth. 

ni. We may now understand one fundamental de- 
sign of the plan of redemption. It is to restore in 
man the full, implicit, and universal confidence, in the 
power, wisdom, and love of God, which was exercised 
by our first parents before the fall, and is now exer- 
cised by all holy beings in existence. What God said 
to Abraham, he says to ail the sons of men, who will 
hearken to his voice, as Abraham did — " I am thy 
shield, and thy exceeding great reward." When God 
is chosen by the soul as its eternal portion, in whom 
every demand of its being is perfectly met, then the 
work of redemption is accomplished in man, as far as 
his restoration to the love and favor of God is con- 
cerned. 

IV. We also see when it is that an individual is 
brought into a state of entire and permanent holiness 

— when he is settled into a state of full and perpetual 
consciousness, that in Christ every demand of his 
being is met, and when all his powers are sweetly 
yielded up to his control, that he may thus supply our 
wants, and accomplish in and through us all the good 



116 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTIOl^. 



pleasure of his goodness. Of such a person, in such 
a state, it may truly be said, " There is none occasion 
of stumbling in him." Nor will there ever be to all 
eternity. Into this blissful state, Christian, Christ is 
both able and willing to bring you. Into this state he 
will bring you, as soon as you will credit his testimony 
to his own ability and willingness, and will accord- 
ingly surrender yourself to his sweet control. 

V. We are now presented with another inexplica- 
ble difficulty in the way of the theory, that perfec- 
tion in holiness is unattainable in this life. The 
advocates of that theory are bound to take the 
ground, that in our condition in this life, such perfec- 
tion — ^ i. e. a state of perfect moral rectitude — would 
not be, on the whole, a blessing to us, for the glory 
of God, and the good of the universe ; or admit that 
Christ is able and willing to confer this perfection 
upon us. If it is a good, Christ stands pledged to 
confer it upon us. For God has said, that "no 
good thing will he withhold from them that walk 
uprightly." "My God shall supply all your need, 
according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." 
Further, if such perfection would be a good to us, 
and Christ did not present himself to us as able and 
willing to meet this perpetual and changeless demand 
of our being, he would be to us an imperfect Sa- 
vior. 

Again, if such perfection is not in this life a good, 
for the glory of God, or the w^ell-being of the uni- 
verse, we are under obligations infinite not to pray 
for it, or to aim to attain it. To make the present 
possession of that which, we believe, would not now 



FULL REDEMPTION. 



117 



|| be a good, the object of prayer and effort, must 
undeniably be in a high degree criminal. But is not 

I the fact, that a state of moral rectitude would be a 
good to us, for the glory of God, and the good of the 
universe, a self-evident truth? Is it not demonstrably 
evident, that it is a good, from the fact that it is re- 
quired of us in the Bible ; that Chi'ist prayed for it 
in behalf of all Clu'istians, and taught them to pray 
for it ; and that such motives are held before us in 
the Bible, to induce in us this perfect obedience to 
God? 

Now, w^hich of the above alternatives shall we take ? 
Shall we say, that perfecti(;n in holiness is not in this 
life a good, and, fcr this reason, as we are bound to 
do, if the supposition befo} e us is correct, cease to 
aim at it, or pray for it ? Or shall we say, that such 
perfection is a good, and that Christ, though able, is 
unwilling to confer it upon us, and thus impeach his 
benevolence, his character as a perfect Savior? 
Or, finally, shall we affirm, that a state of perfect 
moral rectitude is in this life a good, and that Christ 
is both able and ivilling to confer it upon us, and thus 
proclaim his absolute perfection as a Savior ? One, 
and only one, of the above alternatives we must take. 
Which is most honorable to Christ ? Which is most 
conformable to the teachings of inspiration ? Which 
does it become us, as the pupils of the Bible and 
Spirit of God, as the disciples of such a Savior, to 
assume ? 

VL We see, also, how it is, and by what means, 
that Satan is endeavoring to draw Christians away 
from Christ. It is by tempting them to believe, that 



118 



CHRISTIAN PERIECTIOJN'. 



some one or more of* the demands of their being are 
not met in Christ, and thus to draw off their hearts 
from him to some other object. In every instance in 
which a Christian falls into sin, he does it under the 
influence of some such temptation as this. For the 
time being, he is led pi-actically to distrust the 
power or willingness of Christ to answer some of 
the demands of his nature. To meet this demand, 
the individual trespasses the command of Christ 

Vn. We see, also, that the sentiment, that Christ 
is not both able and willing to render us, in this life, 
perfect in holiness, and thus meet this great, this 
fundamental demand of our nature, is directly and 
most perfectly adapted to induce distrust in him, and 
throw the mind under the power of the great enemy. 
No sentiment can be conceived of, which is more 
perfectly ada])ted to secure this object, than the one 
under consideration. 

Vni. We may now understand the full meaning 
of the passage, " Christ is the end of the law for 
righteousness to every one that believeth." The 
meaning of the passage I suppose to be this — Christ 
accom[)lishes in and for the believer all that the law 
would have done, had he always perfectly obeyed its 
requisitions. For example, perfect obedience to the 
law secures to the subject a full exemption from 
all condemnation, and a sure title to the protection and 
favor of God. This the Christian enjoys through 
faith in Christ. Entire obedience to the law would 
have rendered his moral character absolutely perfect, 
and infinitely lovely and excellent in the estimation 



rULL REDEMPTION. 



119 



of God, and of all intelligent beings. A character, 
equally perfect, lovely, and excellent, the believer 
receives through implicit faith in Ciu'ist. Further, 
obedience to the law would have rendered the believ- 
er perfectly blessed in the love and favor of God. A 
blessedness equally perfect descends to the believer 
through faith in Christ. Again, obedience to the law 
would have secured to the believer a full and perfect 
supply of every necessity. Every demand of ourj 
bemg is met with equal fulness in Christ. All that 
the law would have done for the believer, had he 
perfectly obeyed its requisitions, Clirist does for him, 
and infinitely more. 

IX. We are also prepared to answer an objection, 
which is sometimes brought to the doctrine main- 
tained in these discourses, to wit, that it tends to dis- 
honor the law, by lowering the stanaard of moral 
obligation. When I hear this objection, I am often 
reminded of a declaration made to Paul by a fellow 
apostle — " Thou seest, brother, how many thousands 
of Jews there are that believe ; and they are all zeal- 
ous of the law." Whenever the thought is presented, 
that perfect conformity to the divine requisitions, is 
not only required, but expected, of us in this life, a 
great zeal is instantly manifested for the law, as if 
some fearful sacrilege was done to it by the above 
supposition. The standard of moral obligation, it is 
said, will be let down, and Antinomianism, and 
errors fearfully dangerous, will be introduced. But 
how a law is honored, by maintaining that the sub- 
ject will never obey it, is more than I can understand. 
And what is gained by elevating the standard of 



120 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



theoretical, and lov/ering that of practical attainment, 
is equally inexplicable to my mind. Christians 
should also understand, that in their zeal to elevate 
the law, they may limit the grace of God. To place 
the law far above the provisions and promises of 
Christ's redemption, confers honor neither upon the 
law nor Christ. On the other hand, "Christ magni- 

(^es the law and makes it honorable " in the highest 
sense possible, when, as the Mediator of the new 
covenant, he "puts the law in the minds, and writes 
it in the hearts," of his people, and brings all the 
powers of their being into sweet subjection to its 

[requisitions. 

X. In the light of this subject, you see, Christian, 
the real cause of every sin you commit ; of all your 
" care and trouble about the many things" of this lite ; 
of your want of perpetual peace in God, and of the 
"aching void" in your heart in its stead, and of the 
absence of that state of perfect content, which arises 
from the consciousness that all your wants are met in 
Christ. All this has its origin in one principle ex- 
clusively — unbelief — a want of confidence in Christ 
as a full and perfect Savior. Until you become fully 
sensible of this fact ; until you are led to refer all your 
particular sins, all your carefulness and anxiety about 
your worldly interest, your want of perfect peace, and 
every improper feeling that arises in your mind, to 
one source, unbelief, — you will never feel as you 
ought the " exceeding sinfulness of sin." 

XI. We may understand the origin and cause of 
the profound insensibility and hardness of heart,^ in 



FULL REDEMPTIOJ^. 



121 



respect to the love of Christ, of which professors of 
reUgion so commonly complain. Three facts will 
sufficiently account for this state of gloom and heart- 
felt despondency — 1. Christians generally are igno- 
rant of the fulness of that redemption which they 
have in Christ. Unbelief has taken their Lord away 
from their hearts, and they know not where it has laid 
him. The secret of having a heart always melted 
with love and tenderness, is an indwelling Christ, from 
whose fulness our cup of blessedness may perpetually^ 
flow. 2. Another cause of the state under consider- 
ation is this — the fact that almost every Christian, 
in uniting with the church, took upon him the most 
solemn covenant and vow to live in a state of entire 
consecration to Christ, not only in the absence of all 
expectation that such vow would be kept, but with the' 
definite belief that it would not be kept. With such 
a vow and such a belief lying together upon your con- 
science. Christian, cease to wonder, that your heart 
has been hardened into the profoundest insensibility 
and gloom. 3. Another cause of this state of things 
is, the daily habit of praying definitely for a state of 
entire sanctification, with the full belief, that God will 
not answer such requests by the bestowment of the 
blessing prayed for. Let me beseech you. Christian, 
as you value the presence and favor of God, as you 
would not fasten a heart of stone as a perpetual mill- 
stone to your deathless soul, never to put up such a 
prayer again. "Be ye not mockers, lest your bands 
be made strong." 

Xn. One important aspect of the question at issue 
between the advocates and opposers of the doctrine 
11 



122 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



of Christian perfection, here presents itself to the con- 
templation. That Christ is able to render us, in this 
life, as well as in eternity, " perfect and complete in 
all the will of God," none, I presume, will deny. The 
apostle, Eph, iii. 20, 21, after having prayed for the 
entire sanctification and perfect blessedness of Chris- 
tians, thus exclaims, — " Now unto him that is able to 
do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or 
think, according to the power that worketh in us, 
unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus, 
throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." 
Surely we are not straitened in Christ, as far as 
power to save is concerned. The great question is, 
Is he willing, as well as able, to render us thus perfect ? 
On this question, the advocates and opposers of the 
doctrine of Christian perfection are really at issue. 
On the one hand, it is affirmed that, at all times, and 
under all circumstances, Christ is both able and willing 
to meet, and to meet perfectly, every demand of our 
being, and that, as such a Savior, he is ever present 
as an object of faith. On the other hand, it is affirmed 
that there is no moment, during the present life, 
when he is ivilling, though able, to meet one change- 
less demand of our being, to render us " perfect and 
complete in all the will of God." Which of the 
above positions is true, you, reader, are called upon 
here, in the fear of God, to decide. 

Xni. We are now prepared for the contemplation 
of another, and very interesting aspect of the ques- 
tion. Whether perfection in holiness is attainable in 
this life. That doctrine has the highest possible 
internal evidence in its favor, which directly and 



FULL REDEMPTION. 



123 



manifestly falls in with the great design of God in 
the gospel; while the doctrine which wants this 
characteristic is equally destitute of all claim to our 
belief. Now, every one is aware that the great and 
fundamental design of the gospel is, to induce in the 
Christian the exercise of implicit faith in Christ. 
Which view of the character of Christ is best adapted 
to increase in us the exercise of such faith in him — 
that which presents him to our contemplation as able 
and willing to meet perfectly every demand of our 
being, or that which presents him as able indeed, but 
unwilling, during the progress of the present life, to 
meet one fundamental and changeless demand of our 
nature, i. e., to " sanctif}^ us wholly," and preserve us 
in that state to his coming and kingdom ? Is not the 
former view of the character of Christ most per- 
fectly adapted to induce the exercise of perfect faith, 
and the latter as perfectly adapted to induce the op- 
posite state of mind, that is, unbelief? 

XIV. I will here notice a remark which is some- 
times made in respect to dwelling upon the doctrine 
of Christian perfection. It is not in this manner, it 
is said, that the Christian makes progress in holiness ; 
but by turning his contemplation directly upon the 
divine glory, and thus being changed into the same 
image, from glory to glory, " even as by the Spirit of 
the Lord." The question is, Does not the doctrine of 
Christian perfection present one of the essential fea- 
tures of this very glory, upon which we are required 
to turn our contemplation ? What is implied in the 
general and devout meditation upon this doctrme ? 
It implies three things : — 



124 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



1. Deep and profound meditation upon the pure 
and perfect law of God, and upon the action of all 
the powers of our being, in all the circumstances 
and relations in life, in conformity with that law. 
By thus meditating upon the divine statutes, the 
Psalmist declares that he had become "wiser than 
his teachers." Who will dare affirm, that such med- 
itations are not in a high degree favorable to holi- 
ness ? Who will affirm that, in thus meditating upon 
God's pure and perfect law, we shall see no bright 
reflections of that glory, in the beholding of which 
the Christian is changed into the same image ? 

2. In another view of the subject, dwelling upon 
the doctrine of Christian perfection implies a devout 
contemplation of the character of Christ, as a full 
and perfect Savior — a Savior able and willing to 
meet all cur real necessities. By such contempla- 
tions, contemplations in which we are brought to 
" know and believe the love which God hath to us," 
we are informed, 1 John iv. 16, 17, that "our love is 
made perfect." 

3. In yet another view of the subject, dwelling 
upon the doctrine under consideration implies a 
frequent and devout contemplation of the provisions 
of divine grace for the entire sanctification of be- 
lievers, and of the designs of God to raise them to 
this state, whenever they look to him, by faith to do 
it for them. Such meditations upon God's " thoughts 
of good, and not of evil," towards his people, tends 
in the most powerful manner conceivable to melt our 
hearts in love and tenderness towards God, and to 
induce in us the most vigorous efforts after that ho- 
liness which we are required to perfect. In whatever 



» FULL REDEMPTION. 125 

point of light the doctrine under consideration is 
contemplated, dwelling upon it has one tendency, 
and only one, — the assimilation of our entire cliai- 
acter to that of Christ. 

Finally, brethren, seeing we have such a full and 
perfect redemption in Christ, " what manner of per- 
sons ought we to be in all holy conversation and 
godliness." For remaining under the power of sin 
in any form we have no excuse. To "rejoice in the 
Lord always " we are under obligation infinite. " Tlie 
joy of the Lord is our strengtli." To be free from 
all care; to be perpetually peaceful and blessed in 
Christ; to "show forth the praises of him who hath 
called us out of darkness into his marvellous light;" 
to breathe his spirit, walk in his steps, exemplify his 
virtues, and have his "joy fulfilled in us," — is our high 
privilege and sacred duty. " Behold, I stand at the 
door, and knock ; if any man will hear my voice, and 
open the door, I will come in to him, and sup with 
him, and he with me." 
11* 



DISCOURSE VI. 



SPECIAL REDEMPTION. 

" And we have known and believed the love that God hath to 
us." — 1 John iv. 16. 

"1 am crucified with Christ — nevertheless I live 5 yet not I, 
hut Christ liveth in me : and the life that I now live in the flesh, I 
live by faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself 
for me." — GaL ii. 120. 

" J5ut we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the an- 
gels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; 
that he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man." — 
Heh. ii. y. 

['J'lie last clause of this passage might more properly have 
been rendered thus — Because thai he, by the grace of God, has 
tasted death for every 7na?i.^^] 

" And he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, 
but also for the sins of the whole world." — 1 John ii. !2. 

There are three ])ositions, wliicii liave been taken 
by (lifi'erent classes of Cliristians, in respect to the na- 
ture and extent of the re(leni])tion of Christ. 

1. Christ (lied for a j)art only of the human race — 
the elect. This is called limited retieniption or atone- 
ment. This doctrine, I would simply remark, is pos- 
itively contradicted by tlie passages cited above, and 
stands opposed to the whole aspect of the gospel, as 
presented in the Scriptin*es. 

2. Christ died for no individuals of our race in par- 
ticular, but for all in general. This is called general 



SPECIAL REDEMPTION. 



127 



atonement or redemption. This doctrine embodies 
one important and fundamental element of the grace 
of the gospel — the universality of its provisions. It 
fails, however, to present one of the most interesting 
end important features of the provisions of divine 
grace, as we shall see, when we contemplate, 

3. The third position which has been taken in re- 
spect to the subject under consideration, which is this, 
that Christ, instead of dying for no one in particular, 
died for every man in particular. This is positively af- 
firmed in the text — " He tasted death for eveiy man ; " 
"He loved me, and gave himself for me." The re- 
demption of Christ had as special a regard to each in- 
dividual, as if that one individual was alone concerned 
in it. This is what is called special atonement or re- 
aemption. I use the term " redemption " here, not in its 
strict theological sense, to designate the accomplish- 
ment of the provisions of mercy in the actual salva- 
tion of the sinner. In this sense of the term, " redemp- 
tion " is limited by the reception of grace by the sinner. 
I use the term to designate the full and special provis- 
ions which Christ has made for the salvation of every 
individual of our race. 

My object in the present discourse is, to present to 
the contemplation of the reader the special redemp- 
tion of Christ ; to show what is implied in the fact that 
Christ, as explained above, " has by the gi-ace of God 
tasted death for every man." We will then inquire, 
What is implied in "knowing and believing the love 
that God hath to us " ? 

L What is implied in the fact that Christ has tasted 
deatli for every man ? It implies. 



128 



CHRISTIAN FJERFECTIOX 



1. That, in assuming the work of our redemption, 
Christ had our entire condition and necessities, as 
sinners and as creatures, distinctly before his mind. 
Otherwise he could not, with propriety, be said to have 
"tasted death," specifically, " for every man." The 
same truth is also implied in the fact, that Christ is 
omniscient, and must have had his contemplation 
turned with perfect distinctness upon the entire con- 
dition and necessities of every individual, for whose 
redemption he died. 

2. That the object of Christ, in thus tasting death 
for every man, was, to provide a redemption specifical- 
ly adapted to the special condition and necessities of 
each individual for whom he died. For what reason 
should he taste death particularly for each individual, 
if this was not his object ? 

3. That Christ has provided for each individual of 
our race all the good that infinite wisdom could de- 
vise, and infinite love desire. In short, he has accom- 
plished a redemption for us, which covers our entire 
necessities in time and eternity. This he was able to 
accomplish, when he assumed the work of our re- 
demption, and his infinite love would not permit him 
lo accomplish less than this. This was the woik, 
reader, which Christ undertook for you and me ; and 
having assumed it, he never ceased to travail in the 
greatness of his strength, till he could say, " It is fin- 
ished." If you will believe it, such is the "fulness" 
which you have in Christ. 

4. That Christ has rendered the attainment of all 
this good practicable to us ; that is, he has not only- 
provided it for us, but proffered it to us, upon condi- 
tions with which we can comply. To suppose that 



SPECIAL REDEMPTIOr?. 



129 



he has offered it upon other conditions, is to accuse 
liim of mocking our misery in the most flagrant man- 
ner conceivable, i. e., j)roviding for creatures blessings 
infinite, and then proffering them upon impracticable 
conditions. Instead of doing this, Christ has presented 
the blessings of his redemption to us upon such con- 
ditions, that there is an infallible certainty, "that every 
one that will ask shall receive, that he that will seek 
shall find, and that to him that knocketh it shall be 
opened." 

The attention of the reader is now invited to a few 
particular examples, designed still further to illustrate 
the fulness and speciaky of Christ's redemption. 

1. He has made full provision, reader, for the en- 
tire pardon of every sin that you ever committed. As 
your mind ranges over the dark catalogue of past 
transgressions, remember that those particular sins 
he " bore in his own body on the tree." For all those 
sins which rise up in appalling remembrance before 
you, he was "wounded and bruised," so that by "his 
stripes you may be healed." He has njade such per- 
fect provision for the forgiveness of each and every 
sin of your entire past existence, that there is no more 
necessity that you should be exckided from the pres- 
ence and favor of God, on account of those sins, than 
there is that the purest spirit before the throne of God 
should be excluded. 

2. Christ has provided means specifically adapted 
to secure your ent're perfection in holiness. He per- 
fectly understood your case when he undertook the 
work of your redemption. Eveiy obstacle that lies 
in the way of your perfect sanctification was distinctly 



130 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



before his mind, and he has provided means fully ad- 
equate, and specifically adapted, to remedy all the 
consequences of your sins. However low you may 
have sunk in sin, he is able to lift you out of the 
"horrible pit and miry clay." However hard your 
heart may be, he can take it from you, and give you 
a heart of flesh in its stead. However firmly fixed 
your habits of sin may be, he can break them all up. 
However strong the power of your carnal inclina- 
tions, he can subdue them all, and give you a perfect 
victory over them. Whatever temptations to sin beset 
you, from within or around you, he can give you 
strength to endure them. The means to accomplish 
all this, and specifically adapted to your particular 
case, are all provided by his infinite love, "if any 
man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things 
have passed away; behold, all things have become 
new." Why, then, should you remain under the 
power of sin ? Why should you be appalled by the 
fixedness of your habits of sin, by the strength of your 
carnal inclinations, or the multiplicity and power of 
the temptations which beset you? Christ saw all 
these when he assumed the work of your redemption. 
For all these he has provided a specific and all-pow^- 
erful remedy. Go to Christ, and you will find that 
in him there is redemption in readiness for you, to 
render you " perfect and complete in all the will of 
God." Clad in the armor of righteousness, which he 
has provided for you, you will find yourself able to 
stand against all the wiles of the wicked one. 

3. In the redemption of Christ, there is special con- 
solation provided for all the particular afflictions which 
come upon you. " In all your afl^ictions Christ was 



SPECIAL REDEMPTION. 



131 



afflicted." If you will carry your wounded spirit to 
him, he will bind it up, however deep and multiplied 
the wounds may be. No one of them was forgotten 
by your Savior, when he undertook the work of "bear- 
ing your griefs, and carrying your sorrows." Balm 
specifically adapted to heal all those wounds is in 
readiness for you. Whatever the particular affliction 
may be, which falls upon you at any particular time, 
remember that that affliction, with all its peculiarities, 
has been specifically provided for by the love of 
Christ. 

4. Whatever the sphere in life may be, in which you 
may at any time be called to move, for you Christ has 
provided special wisdom to meet all the exigencies 
and responsibilities that fall upon you in that sphere. 
When you lack wisdom, go to him, and he will "give 
liberally and not upbraid you." The means to do it 
are all provided. 

5. Christ, in short, has made ample provision for 
every particular necessity which may come upon you 
in time and eternity. There is not a solitary want of 
yours, throughout the endless future beyond you, for 
which a special supply is not made in the redemption 
of Christ. For you there is provided a seat in heaven, 
a robe of righteousness, a harp of gold, a crown of 
gloiy, and a special place in the centre of God's heart 
of eternal love. 

Such is the redemption of Christ. I might have il- 
lustrated the sentiment of this discourse by referring 
to other particulars. These are sufficient, however, to 
present the subject with entire distinctness to the con- 
templation of the reader. We will now inquire, 



132 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



II. What is implied in our knowing and believing 
the love that the Father hath to us. This implies 
three things — 

1. That we apprehend that love as it is, i. e., the in- 
finite love of God in giving his Son to make, by his 
incarnation and death, such full and special provisions 
for our necessities. 

2. That we credit this love as a reality ; in other 
words, that we give the Lord Jesus Christ full credit 
for being such a full and special Savior as he repre- 
sents himself to be. 

3. That we receive the Lord Jesus Christ as such 
a Savior, and yield up our w^hole being to his control, 
that he may accomplish in us all the purposes of his 
infinite and special love. 

And now let me ask you, reader, do you believe 
with all your heart, that Christ is in reality such a 
Savior as he has here been represented? Do you 
give him full credit for having " loved you and given 
himself for you," for the purpose of making such full 
and special provisions for your entire necessities.^ 
Do you believe that for you he tasted the bitter cup of 
death ? In every special exigency of your being, can 
you look to him with the full assurance that this par- 
ticular exigency, with all its peculiarities, was re- 
membered and provided for by him, when he was 
"wounded for your transgressions, and bruised for 
your iniquities"? Can you reckon yourself among 
the number, who can say, "We have known and 
believed the love that the Father hath unto us " ? Do 
you believe that Christ has provided redemption for 
you — a redemption so perfectly and specifically 
adapted to your particular case, that you can now go 



SPECIAL REDEMPTION. 



133 



to him and be cleansed from all that is impui e and 
unholy, and so transformed into his likeness that your 
entire character shall hereafter present a pure reflec- 
tion of his image. Do you believe that you may bring 
to him your temper, your appetites, your propensities, 
your entire habits, and have them all brought into sweet 
subjection to the will of God ? Do you believe that 
in him there is a special balm for every wound ; relief 
from eveiy care ; consolation for all aflliction ; a rem- 
edy for eveiy ill ; and a full supply for every specific 
necessity of your entire existence ? Unless you be- 
lieve all this, and your heart is all melted into love 
and tenderness, under the influence of that belief, you 
have yet to learn the breadth, and depth, and length, 
and height of the love of Christ. 



REMARKS. 

I. We may now understand the nature of what 
may be called appropriating faith. It consists in re- 
ceiving Christ, and relying upon him as our Savior, in 
reference to all our particular necessities as individ- 
uals. As the creatures of God, as sinners against his 
holy law, we have our particular duties, spheres of ac- 
tion, temptations, trials, afflictions, and necessities. 

.Now, when Christ is contemplated as having pro- 
vided a redemption for us, specifically adapted to our 
special exigencies, and is received as a Savior to meet 
these exigencies, then we exercise towards him ap- 
propriating faith. Then we appropriate to ourselves 
the special redemption that he has provided for us. 

II. Here I may be permitted to allude to a very 

12 



134 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



common mistake among Cliristiaiis, in looking to 
Christ as a Savior. They appear to look to him as a 
Savior in general, without any reference to their par- 
ticular necessities. How seldom do we meet with a 
Christian, for example, who carries to Christ his tem- 
per, his appetites, his habits, and propensities of every 
kind, which lead him into sin, to have them all cor- 
rected and subdued ! Where is the Christian, who is 
accustomed to go to Christ, to be rendered by him 
all that he requires him or her to be as a father, a 
mother, a child, a brother, or sister, or in special ref- 
erence to the business transactions of life.^ Now, 
until our faith fastens upon Christ with reference to 
specific objects such as these, the power of his re- 
demption will never be experienced. From our sins 
Christ does not and cannot save us, unless by faith 
we thus appropriate the provisions of his redem{ftion. 

in. In the light of this subject we may also learn 
what Christ requires and expects of us as Christians. 
To present this part of the subject distinctly before 
the reader's mind, I remark, 

1. That Christ designs and ex{)ects that our re- 
ligion shall be carried out and influence us alike in 
all the scenes and transactions of life; that we shall 
eat, drink, dress, spend our time, talents, and prop- 
erty, transact our business, and move in every sphere 
in life, with exclusive reference to the same identical 
objects for which we pray, worship God on the Sab- 
batli, warn sinners to flee from the wrath to come, or 
partake of the symbols of the body and blood of our 
Lord. " Whether, therefore ye eat or drink, or what- 
soever ye do, do all to the glory of God." That you 



SPECIAL REDEMPTION. 



135 



may all do this ; that Holiness to the Lord may be in- 
scribed upon all that you have, and all that you are, 
— full provision is made in the redemption of Christ. 
Hence, 

2. He requires and expects that you will believe 
that special grace to do all this is provided for you, 
and that you will look to him to be rendered thus 
"perfect and complete in all the will of God." 

3. When you are called in providence to move in 
any particular sphere, he requires and expects that 
your first object will be, to understand clearly the par- 
ticular responsibilities, trials, temptations, &c., inci- 
dent to you in that paiticnlir sphere. 

4. He requires and expects that you will believe 
that he, as your Redeemer, lias made full and special 
provision for all your exigencies in that particular 
sphere; and that, in the exercise of full and implicit 
faith, you will look to him for grace to meet those 
exigencies. 

Such are some of the requirements and expecta- 
tions of Christ from us as Christians. Here let me 
add, that if we do not look to Christ to be saved by 
him, in every sphere, and in respect to every trans- 
action in life, our faith does not fix upon him at all as 
a Savior from sin. I would also add, that if Christ 
does not save us by subduing our tempers, controlling 
our appetites and propensities, by rendering us in 
our spheres, as husbands and wives, parents and 
children, in every sphere, and in all the particular 
transactions of life, what he requires us to be, he 
does not save us at all. The man who expects to be 
a Christian in his closet, and upon the Sabbath, and 
a man of the world behmd his counter, in his shop, 



136 



CHRISTIAN? PERFECTION. 



or on his farm, will find at last that he has failed of 
the grace of God. 

IV. We also learn the nature of unbelief, in its 
most common form in the church. It is withholding 
from Christ implicit confidence, as a Savior, who has 
provided special means to do it, and is now able and 
willing to meet all our particular necessities as indi- 
viduals. 

V. We will now consider some of the most com- 
mon indications of unbelief. Among these I no- 
tice, 

1. The impression which individuals have, that 
there are peculiar difiiculties in their case. The 
redemption of Christ appears i nlly adequate to the 
exigencies of every other individual but themselves. 
Did Christ, reader, in tasting death for you, overlook 
the special peculiarities of your condition ? Or had 
he, when he cried, "It is finished," failed to make 
full provision for those peculiarities ? Why, then, 
permit your unbelief to put far from you all the 
endless provisions of Christ's redemption? If you 
withhold confidence from Christ as an ever-present 
Savior, able and willing to meet all the peculiarities 
of your condition, you do it at the peril, yes, to the 
certain loss, of your eternal interests. 

2. I believe, says another, that Christ has provided 
full redemption for me — a i-edemption which perfectly 
covers all my necessities ; but I cannot exercise faith 
hi Christ. Christ, then, has purchased full and 
special redemption for you, but proffered it to you 
upon conditions with which you cannot comply. 



SPECIAL REDEMPTION. 



137 



Why let unbelief thus fasten a millstone about that 
deathless soul of yours ? 

3. My heart, says another, is so hard and insensi- 
ble, that nothing in the universe will move or melt it. 
Did Christ, in tasting death for you, overlook that 
heart of stone in your bosom ? and has he made no 
special provision to take it out of your flesh, and 
give in its stead a heart of flesh ? Remember, that if 
you do not cany this very heart to Christ, that he 
may take it from you, and if you do not exercise 
special faith in him to do it, he will be no Savior to 
you in any sense whatever. 

4. Another individual complains that his natural 
temper is so ungovernable, and his habits of sin so 
omnipotent in their influence over him, that it ap- 
pears to him that there can be no redemption for 
him, at least in this life. If Christ has not provided 
a special and adequate remedy for these evils, and if 
your faith does not fasten upon that particular reme- 
dy, then there is no salvation for you. Christ will 
"save you from your sins," or not at all. Why let 
that temper, and those habits, drag you down to 
death, when Christ has made full and special pro- 
vision for their perfect subdual ? 

5. Another individual feels that he cannot be pre- 
served in his particular sphere. "How can a person 
be kept perfectly fi-ee from sin," says one, " in the 
midst of the numberless temptations incident to a 
residence in a great city ?" If this were so, I would 
say, "Up, get ye out of this place." It is better for 
thee to " enter into life," from the obscurest and most 
barren spot on earth, than to descend into the lake 
of fire, from the most splendid palace or city. But 

12 * 



138 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION* 



who is it that has promised that he will not " suffer 
you to be tempted above that ye are able, but with 
the temptation will make a way for your escape, that 
ye may be able to bear it " ? Who is the strongest, 
Christian, "he that is in you," or he "that is in the 
v/orld"? 

"Do you believe," said a mother, "that I can be 
preserved in a state of perfect peace, in the midst of 
all the cares and perplexities of this great family ? " 
Christ, according to the suggestions of unbelief in 
the mind of that individual, had, in the special pro- 
visions of his grace for her, overlooked the fact that 
she was to be the mother of a large fami.^, and had 
failed to provide a special remedy for all the cares 
and perplexities incident to her lot in that particular 
sphere. Sad indeed was her condition, if that were 
really the case. 

6. It does not appear, says another, possible that 
creatures sunk so low in sin as we are, should be 
raised to a state of perfect purity. Did you acquire 
that sentiment, brother, through a full and careful 
inquiry into the natm*e and power of the grace of 
Christ ? Did you learn it from a prayerful investiga- 
tion of the extent of the provisions and promises of 
Christ's redemption, and of the power of Christ him- 
self as a Savior ? Is that grace, which has the power 
to change a rebel into a friend, insufficient, if applied 
by Christ himself for the purpose, to change partial 
into perfect love ? What is there to appal us, however 
deep and settled our habits of sin, if Christ has pro- 
vided the means, and has undertaken to accomplish 
a full redemption from all iniquity ? 

7. If I could only see some one who had attained 



SPECIAL REDEMPTION. 



139 



10 a state of entire sanctification, then I would believe 
the doctrine. It is very doubtful whether, if such a 
case were actually presented to a person in this state 
of mind, God would not have occasion to say unto 
him, " I work a work in your day, which ye will in 
no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you." 
Or if he should believe it for that reason, the fact 
itself would show that his faith rests, as said in a for- 
mer discourse, upon what he sees, and not upon the 
Word of God. Which, reader, have you taken, " as 
the only infallible rule of faith and practice," the 
Word of God or the attainments of men ? 

8. It does not appear to me, that by simply be- 
lieving in Christ, says another, I could be saved from 
all sin. In other words, the declaration of Christ, 
" He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet 
shall he live," does not appear to be a reality. Such 
an individual ought to learn another fact — that he has 
as yet experienced but very little of the power of 
faith in his own heart. Now the just shall live by 
faith." " We also believe, and therefore speak," 

VL We may also learn the influence of unbelief. 
It annihilates wholly the saving influence of the 
gospel upon the heart. It places the subject in the 
same state of absolute hopelessness that he would be 
in, had no salvation been provided. " If ye believe 
not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins." What- 
ever necessity presses upon us, that necessity remains 
forever un supplied till faith fastens upon the special 
redemption of Christ, as an ever-present and all-pow- 
erful remedy. 



140 



CHRISTIAN PERFKCTION. 



Vn. We may now understand the true remedy for 
spiritual pride. I recollect having once heard a 
preacher, in a public address, give this as the all- 
powerful corrective. — " Let a person keep perpetually 
before his mind the standard of absolute perfection 
required by the law of God, and let it be his constant 
aim to ascend to a full discharge of every duty re- 
quired of him. Now, if, while he is ascending from 
one degree to another toward the point of perfect 
holiness, he looks down and reflects upon the attain- 
ments he has already made, he will be lifted up with 
pride. li\ on the other hand, in his perpetual ascent, 
he keeps his eye steadily fixed upon the point above 
him, he will be kept perpetually humbled in view of 
constant short comings." The remedy w^as received 
by the audience with unbounded applause. This re- 
flection, however, forced itself upon mj mind, that if 
the speaker was in the same state of mind in which 
Christians generally are, he was not a little elevated 
in his estimation of himself by the beautiful remedy 
which he had proposed for s{>iritual pride. And 
what a thought is this — that a Christian must not 
obey the commands, " Search your own hearts," " Ex- 
amine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith ; prove 
your own selves," lest, if he should find that he had 
attained to any real holiness, he would be lifted with 
pride, and not exclaim, with adoring gratitude, "By 
the grace of God I am what I am " ! 

Now, the apostle has proposed a very difl^erent 
remedy for spiritual pride, from the one under con- 
sideration, which is the one commonly proposed. 
" Where is boasting, then ? It is excluded. By what 
law ? Of works ? Nay ; but by the law of faith." 



SPECIAL REDJiMrTIO.X. 



m 



Suppose that an individual becomes fully conscious 
that, in consequence of his own reckless folly, he 
has involved himself in infinite guilt and hopeless 
bondage under sin ; that Christ, of his self-moved 
goodness and mercy, has made full provision to 
meet all his necessities as a sinner ; that, by implicit 
faith in Christ, he enjoys full redemption from the 
powder and consequences of sin ; and that the moment 
his faith loses its hold of Christ, he falls into the same 
hopeless guilt and bondage as before. When the 
man finds himself rising in spu'itual attainments, 
under the influence of such a principle, to whom will 
he spontaneously ascribe the entire glory of his sal- 
vation ? " To him that loved us, and washed us from 
our sins in his own blood." The fact that Christians 
generally cannot conceive themselves to have as- 
cended in spiritual attainment, at all above the com- 
mon level, without pride of heart, is to my mind full 
demonstration of the fact, that they yet need to be 
taught what are the " first principles " of holy living. 
" The righteousness which is of faith " excludes all 
boasting, of every kind, 

Vni. You learn. Christian, to what to attribute 
every act of sin, and all your care, and trouble, and 
perplexity, about the "many things" of this life. All 
these, together with every wrong feeling which arises 
in your mind, have their origin in one source exclu- 
sively — unbelief — a want of confidence in that special 
redemption of Christ, which, but for unbelief, would 
meet every possible exigency of our whole existence 

IX, We see, also, how it is that most Christians 



142 



CHRISTIAN PJ:RFECTIO]y. 



lose the presence of Christ under the pressure of 
business, when on a journey, or when brought into 
any scenes to which they have not before been ac 
customed. In such circumstances, they do not look 
to Clii'ist for the special grace which he has provided 
to meet such exigencies. O that Christians would 
take this promise with them every where. — " As thy 
days, so shall thy strength be" ! " Then would their 
peace be like a river, and their righteousness as the 
waves of the sea." 

X. We also understand the secret of always having ' 
a heart melted with love and tenderness. It consists 
in a full sense of our own infinite guilt and vileness, 
of the boundless love of Christ, in making such fuii 
and perfect provision for our entire necessities, and 
as being ever present in our hearts, to confer upon us 
the full benefits of this eternal redemption. "Behold 
what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon 
us, that we should be called the children of God ! " 
Such a thought, when it once takes full possession of 
the mind, has omnipotent power to melt the heart, 
and cause its purest, sweetest, and best aflfections to 
roll forever around one " blissful centre." 

XL We now understand the reason why the Lord 
Jesus Christ declared " the kingdom of heaven to be 
like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three 
measures of meal, till the whole were leavened." 
The thought here presented, in its application to 
Christians, is this : When the kingdom of heaven is 
once set up in the heart of an individual, it will lead 
directly on to an entire subjection of all the powers 



SPECIAL REDEMPTION. 



143 



and principles of his being to its divine controi. The 
reason is this : For our entire redemption from sin, 
into a state of perfect moral purity, the gospel has 
made full provision. For every sinful habit and pro- 
pensity, for every incentive to sin, it presents a specific 
and all-powerful remedy, through faith in Christ. 
Who that hates sin, and loves holiness supremely, will 
remain under the power of the former, and destitute 
of the lulness of the latter, under such circumstances.^ 

XIL We see also the reason of Christ's declara- 
tion, "And this is life eternal, that they might know 
thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou 
hast sent." Suppose, Christian, that you could ap- 
prehend the excellence and love of Christ, as fully as 
your capacities will permit ; suppose you could ap- 
prehend the fulness of his special love to you, and to 
every other individual of our race ; that you could 
apprehend him as ever present with you, to meet your 
entire necessities in time and eternity ; suppose you 
could apprehend him in all his relations to you, as 
your God and Savior, and you could be fully assured, 
that, through his love, every attribute of the Godhead 
stands pledged for your present and eternal well- 
being : to know Christ in this manner, and to have all 
the powers of your being moving perpetually under 
the influence of his infinite love, — this would indeed 
be life eternal. To be in this state is your high and 
blessed privilege. To present this love to you in all 
its fulness, God has given you his Holy Spirit. If you 
will look to that Spirit to be " strengthened with might 
in the inner man," for this specific object, " that the 
love of Christ may dweU richly in your heart by 



i44 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



faith," you will then be able to " comprehend, with all 

the saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, 
and height, and to know the love of Christ, which 
passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled with all the 
fulness of God." 

Xin. Finally, we may, in the light of this discourse, 
understand the secret of the preeminent piety of 
Paul and of primitive Christians, It is all explained 
in one single expression of the sacred writer — 
"Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our 
faith." At all times, and under all circumstances, 
they "knew nothing but Jesus Christ, and him cru- 
cified." They literally " counted all things but loss, 
for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus 
their Lord." He was their " wisdom," their "right- 
eousness," their " sanctification," and " redemption." 
He was their consolation in every afi^liction. He was 
their perfect pattern, their sole leader and guide. He 
was their certain victory, in every conflict with the 
"world, the flesh, and the devil." He was their joy, 
their hope, their inheritance, their shield, and their 
" exceeding great reward." He was their " bright and 
morning star," the magnet of their souls, which held 
ail the powers of their being in a blissful fixedness to 
one changeless centre. 

Now, Christian, if you will believe it, Christ will be 
to you all that he was to them. "He is the same 
yesterday, to-day, and forever;" and you may share 
as fully as they did in the infinite fulness of the love 
and grace of Christ. If, however, you would enjoy 
this full redemption, all the powers of your being 
must be brought under the perpetual influence of this 



SPECIAL REDEMPTION. 



145 



one principle, " Looking to Jesus." Do your sins rise 
up before you, and fill you with apprehensions of 
coming retributions, " look to Jesus." Do you desire, 
to be wholly freed from the power of sin, and to have 
your entire character presented to God " without spot 
or wrinkle, or any such thing," "look to Jesus." Are 
you bm'dened with care, or do the storms of affliction 
gather around you, " look to Jesus." Is your temper 
unsubdued, do your appetites and propensities rebel, 
and call for unhallowed gratification, "look to Jesus." 
Do temptations beset you, fi'om within or around you, 
" look to Jesus." Do you need wisdom and grace for 
any exigency whatever, "look to Jesus." Whatever 
your condition or necessities may be, hear his gracious 
voice — "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are 
heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke 
upon you, and learn of me, for 1 am meek and lowly 
in heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls." 

^' Jesus, we come at thy command, 
With faith, and hope, and humble zeal 5 
Resi^ our spirits to thy hand, 
To mould, and guide us at thy will.*' 

13 



DISCOURSE Vll. 



EXCEEDING GREAT AND PRECIOUS PROMISES. 

" Whereby are given unto us exceeding' great and preciou* 
promises ; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine na- 
ture, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through 
\\isC' — 2Pet. i. 4. 

Ij\ the verse preceding, we are informed, that God, 
in giving us a revelation of Jesus Christ, has furnished 
us with a knowledge of every thing which "pertains 
to life and godliness." In the text, we are informed, 
that in the same revelation he has given unto us "ex- 
ceeding great and precious promises ; " that these 
promises are conferred upon us for this purpose, that 
through them, or by embracing them by faith, we may 
become " partakers of the divine nature," and escape 
the corruption that is in the world through lust." A 
promise is a pledge of good. In every promise of 
divine grace, Christ discloses to us the good which he 
stands pledged to confer upon us, on condition that 
we look to him, by faith, for the blessing presented in 
the promise. Now, the success of all our efforts after 
holiness, depends upon the use we make of the prom- 
ises. I propose, therefore, in the following discourse, 
to illustrate the following propositions : — 

I. I will present to the contemplation of the reader 



PROMISES. 



147 



some of the " exceeding gi*eat and precious promises " 
of divine grace. 

IT. Show what is implied in our becoming " par- 
takers of the divine nature, having escaped the cor- 
ruptions that are in the world through lust." 

III. Show the manner in which the promises must 
be used, in order that we may obtain the good which 
they present to us. 

I. I am to present to the contemplation of the 
reader some of the " exceeding great and precious 
promises " of divine grace. As much that I should 
otherwise say upon this part of our subject has been 
anticipated in preceding discourses, my remarks un- 
der this head will be very brief. In presenting the 
reader with a slight view of these " exceeding great 
and precious promises," I would remark in general, 
that Christ has pledged to us an eternal exemption 
from all that would be to us, on the whole, a real evil, 
and the possession of every thing, in time and eterni- 
ty, the possession of which would be to us a real 
blessing. "Not a hair of your head shall perish." 
" And nothing shall by any means hurt you." " No 
good thing will be withheld from them that walk up- 
rightly." These promises belong alike to all Chris- 
tians, ill all ages and circumstances. For their fulfil- 
ment, they are required, with full and humble confi- 
dence, to cast themselves upon the power and faith- 
fulness of Chi'ist. But, to be more particular, I re- 
mark, 

1. That Christ has promised, to all who will believe 
in him, an eternal exemption from all the condemna- 
tion which they deserve on account of their sins, and 



148 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTIOJ?. 



which actually will fall upon the wicked. " My sheep 
hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me ; 
and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall 
never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my 
hand." " Verily, verily, I say unto you. He that hear- 
eth my words, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath 
everlasting life, and shall not come into condemna- 
tion, but is passed from death unto life." " There is 
therefore now no condemnation to them that are in 
Christ Jesus." 

2. A sure title to all the blessedness enjoyed by the 
pure spirits around the throne of God. "Ye are 
come," — "to an innumerable company of angels, and 
to the general assembly and church of the first born, 
which are written in heaven*" "I give unto them 
eternal life, and they shall never perish." "Who shall 
separate us from the love of God ? " 

Suppose, reader, that you were introduced within 
the veil of eternity, and were permitted to look down 
into the gulf of death, until you should fully appre- 
hend the infinite wretchedness of a lost spirit, as he 
wanders on, through ceaseless ages, amid the gloom 
and despair of the eternal sepulchre ; suppose you 
wei*e then permitted to raise your vision to those infi- 
nite heights of purity and blessedness to which re- 
deemed spirits in heaven will ascend, as eternity rolls 
on its endless years. While these depths of gloom 
and heights of bliss were distinctly before your mind, 
suppose Christ should pledge himself to you; that he 
would free you from all exposure to the former, and 
give you a sure title to the full possession of the lat- 
ter. What an " exceeding great and precious prom- 
ise" that would be ! Such is the promise of Christ 



PROMISES. 



149 



now before you. " Bless the Lord, O my soul, and 
forget not all his benefits." 

3. Entii'e freedom from all sin, and the transforma- 
tion of our entire character into a likeness to his own. 
" I," says Christ, " will sprinkle clean water upon you, 
and ye shall be clean ; from all your filthiness, and 
fi-om all your idols, will I cleanse you." " And thou 
shalt call his name Jesus ; for he shall save his peo- 
ple from their sins." " But we all with open face be- 
holding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are 
changed into the same image from glory to glory, even 
as by the spirit of the Lord." This is held before us 
as a promise. Such a change Christ stands pledged 
to produce in us, if we will believe in him. 

4. He promises to subdue our lusts and propensi- 
ties, to guard us against all temptation to sin from 
within or around us, and to give us a full and perfect 
victory over " the world, the flesh, and the devil." " If 
Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin." 
" Walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lusts 
of the flesh." " If any man be in Christ, he is a new 
creature ; old things are passed away ; behold, all 
things have become new." " This is the victory that 
overcometh the world, even our faith." " Fear not, 1 
have overcome the world." "He is able to succor 
them that are tempted." " Who will not suflfer you 
to be tempted above that ye are able ; but will with 
the temptation make a way to escape, that ye may be 
able to bear it." 

5. Consolation in every aflliction. " The spirit of 
the Lord God is upon me ; because the Lord hath an» 
ointed me to preach good tidings to the meek ; He hath 
sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim lib- 

13 



150 



CHRISTIAN PERrECTIOW. 



erty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to 
them that are bound ; to comfort all that mourn ; to 
appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto 
them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, 
the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." 
" Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, 
and I w^ill give you rest." 

6. The constant fruition of the divine presence and 
love, and all the blessedness w^hich he himself enjoys, 
as far as our capacities will permit. "We w^ill come 
and make our abode with him." "I will dwell in 
them, and walk in them." " Peace I leave with you, 
my p; ace " — i. e., the peace which I enjoy -— " I give 
unto you." " That they might have my joy fulfilled in 
themselves." " The peace of God, which passeth all 
imderstanding, shall keep your heart and mind through 
Christ Jpsus." 

7. The privilege of going to God, at all times and 
under all circumstances, in prayer, with the use of 
Christ's name, and with the certain pledge that what- 
soever we thus ask, that will be a good to us, shall be 
granted. "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in 
you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done 
unto you." "If ye shall ask any thing in my name, 1 
will do it." " Ask and it shall be given you, that your 
joy may be full." 

8. The constant presence and illumination of the 
Holy Spirit. " He shall abide with you forever." "He 
shall lead you into all truth." " He shall take of mine 
and show them unto you." 

9. Not merely grace to make us holy and keep us 
from all sin, but an infinite reward for every expres- 
sion of love that he shall receive from us, and every 



PROMISES. 



151 



act of obedience that we shall render to him. " And 
every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or 
sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or 
lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a hundred fold, 
and shall inherit everlasting life. And whosoever shall 
give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of 
cold water only, in the name of a disciple, verily I say 
unto you. He shall in no wise lose his reward." Such 
is the infinite and incomprehensible love and grace 
of Christ. By his grace we are rendered holy, and 
are then to be rewarded infinitely for being what the 
grace of Christ has rendered us. 

10. Great success in our eflTorts to advance his cause, 
" He that abideth in me, and 1 in him, the same bring- 
eth forth much fruit." " Verily, verily, I say unto you, 
He that belie veth on me, the works that I do shall he 
do also ; and greater works than these shall he do ; 
because I go to my Father." Christ has not only 
promised to render us thus successful, but to bestow 
an infinite and eternal reward upon us for all that we 
accomplish for him. " They that be wise shall shine 
as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn 
many to righteousness, as the stars forever and ever." 

11. Christ promises to us a peaceful death, and a 
glorious immortality. "Mark the perfect man, and 
behold the upright ; for the end of that man is 
peace." " I will come again and receive you to my- 
self, that where I am, there ye may be also." " We 
know that when he shall appear, we shall be like 
him ; for we shall see him as he is." " And there 
shall be no more curse ; but the throne of God and 
of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall 
serve him; and they shall see his face; and his 
naroe »)mU be in their ft>reh©adf ." 



152 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



Such are the promises of Christ to his people. 
And, reader, are not these promises "exceeding 
great and precious " ? To you they all belong ; and 
Christ invites you to come to him, and receive your 
purchased and promised inheritance. We vv^ill now 
inquire, 

IL What is implied in our being " made partakers 
of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption 
that is in the vs^orld through lust." This implies two 
things — ■ 

1. That we become entirely emancipated from the 
power of sin. No person, not thus emancipated, but 
still, in any degree, under the power of sin, could be 
said to have " escaped the corruption that is in the 
world through lust." 

2. It implies that we, to the full extent of our 
powers, be rendered partakers of the holiness and 
blessedness of God. This is the only sense in which 
any intelligent being can be a partaker of the divine 
nature. " But he," says the apostle, " for our profit, 
that we might be partakers of his holiness." To be 
partakers of the divine holiness, and consequently 
of the divine blessedness, is of course the same 
thing as to be rendered partakers of the divine 
nature. 

That we might thus escape the corruptions that are 
in the world, and be " made partakers of the divine 
nature," is the declared object for which the " exceed- 
ing great and precious promises " were given. When 
we come to Christ by faith for a fulfilment of these 
promises, his power stands pledged to fulfil in us the 
glorious object for which they were given. I am 



PROMISES. 



153 



in. To show the manner in which we are to use 
the promises, in order that we may obtain the good 
which they present to us. As the design of the 
promises is to free us from the " corruptions that are 
in the world," and render us " partakers of the divme 
nature," they are addj-essed and adapted to every pos- 
sible condition in which we may be placed, and as a 
remedy for every evil, natural and moral, in which 
we may be involved. They descend to the sinner in 
the lowest depths of guilt and depravity, for the pur- 
pose of lifting him out of the " horrible pit and miry 
clay," and rendering him a partaker of the " divine 
nature." They meet the Christian, in a state of par- 
tial holiness, for the purpot-e of raising him to a state 
of "perfect love," and then of carrying Lim upward 
and onward, from glory Ui glory, through time and 
eternity. Now, to use the promises so as to become 
possessed of the blessings which they proffer to us, 
four things are necessary — 1. That we know oiu* 
need. 2. That we apprehend the particular promise 
of Christ, which was designed to meet that particular 
necessity. 3. That we repose full confidence in 
Christ's ability and faithfjlness to fulfil the promise 
which he has spread before us. 4. That we cast our 
whole being upon him, for the specific purpose of 
securing a fulfilment of the particular promise before 
us. For example, the sinner is brought to feel him- 
self to be in a lost condition. Here he is met vrith 
the declaration of Christ, " I came to seek and to save 
that which was lost ; " together with the promises, 
" Look to me and be ye saved ; " " Whosoever com- 
eth to me I will in no wise cast out." Let the sinner 
cast himself at once upon Christ, for the definite 



154 



CHRISTIAN FERFECTION. 



purpose of securing a fulfilment of those , specific 
promises. Are you in darkness, reader, go directly 
to Christ for the fulfilment of the promise, "I will 
lead the blind by a way which they know not." Is 
your heart hard and unfeeling, go to Christ with the 
definite ])romise, " I will take the heart of stone out 
of your flesh, and will give you a heart of flesh," and 
cast yourself upon his faithfulness for the fulfilment 
of that promise. Are your appetites, or your pro- 
pensities, the " occasion of stumbling " to you, carry 
these particular objects to Christ, and plead the defi- 
nite promises, " If Christ be in you, the body is dead, 
because of sin," and "If any man be in Christ, he is 
a new creature ; old things have passed away ; behold, 
all thmgs have become new." Do temptations beset 
you, go to Christ with the pro.iiise, "Who will not 
suffer you to be tempted above that you are able ; 
but will with the temptation make a way for your 
escape, that ye may be able to Uear it." Are you 
about to enter into new and untried scenes, or spheres 
of action, go to Christ with the specific promises, 
" Lo, I am with you always," and " My grace is suf- 
ficient for thee." Are you " hungering and thirsting 
afi;er righteousness," this promise you may now plead 
with Christ, " They shall be filled." Does the water 
of life begin to flow in your heart, this promise now 
rises before you, " Whosoever drinketh of the water 
that 1 shall give him, shall never thirst ; but the water 
that I shall give him, shall be in him a well of water 
springing up into everlasting life." Li short, what- 
ever your condition or state of mind may be, remem- 
ber that there you are addressed by your Savior with 
some specific promise, perfectly adapted to your 



PROMISES. 



155 



peculiar case. Your life depends upon your casting 
yourself at once upon the faithfulness of Christ, for 
a fulfilment of that promise. In so using the "ex- 
ceeding great and precious promises," you may, with 
absolute certainty, be rendered a "partaker of the 
divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is 
in the world through lust." 

REMARKS. 

L We will notice the great truth, of which we 
need to have a full and distinct apprehension, in 
order that all the promises may rise before our 
minds as living realities. It is the infinite love 
of God in the gift of Christ for our redemption. 
In Christ, "all the promises are yea and amen." 
"He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him 
up for us all, how shall he not with him freely give 
us all things." For the want of such an apprehen- 
sion of the love of Christ, the promises are, to the 
great mass of the church, almost as a " dead letter." 

IL We notice one of the first lessons which should 
be taught to the young convert. He should first of 
all use the promises as a sovereign remed}^ to every 
ill that may press upon him. Let his eye be directed 
to these ; let him become accustomed to apply to 
them in eveiy possible exigency, and he will ascend 
upwards upon them, as upon Jacob's ladder, from 
glory to glory, to eternal heights of purity and bless- 
edness. 

m We see how it is that the peace of the young 



156 



CHUISTIAN PERrECTIOrf. 



convert is very commonly destroyed, and his growth 
in grace prevented, by the instructions which he 
receives from older Christians. When the convert, 
alarmed at the discovery of inward corruptions, and 
of the numerous occasions of stumbling, in himself, 
arising from his temper, his appetites, his habits of 
sin, as well as the hardness of his heart, comes for 
counsel to those who ought to be able to point him at 
once to the remedy, and thus lead him to the " foun- 
tain of living waters," there is commonly a direct 
attempt to comfort him in his present state. He is 
told that such discoveries of inward corruption are 
the highest evidence of our conversion, that he must 
not be alarmed, when he " finds the Canaanite in the 
land," that these foes will never be dislodged from 
his bosom till his dying day, and that Christ will very 
soon teach him the " plague of his own heart," by 
letting him slide down from the warmth and blessed- 
ness of his first love, into the valley of spiritual death, 
rnisnamed the valley of humiliation. Well might the 
convert reply to such guides, " Miserable comforters 
are ye all." If, now, he will turn from all such direc- 
tions to the " exceeding great and precious promises " 
of Christ, and with humble confidence cast himself 
upon his faithfulness, then shall his "righteousness go 
forth as brightness, and his salvation as a lamp that 
burneth." Then shall he prove by blessed experi- 
ence the truth of the promise, " Even the youths shall 
faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly 
fall ; but they that wait on the Lord shall renew their 
strength ; they shall mount up on wings as eagles ; 
they shall run and not be weary ; they shall walk and 
not faint." 



®A\. » • 1^0^ raojj paAomaj iC[{oqAV aq 

ppoM snis ano^ 'uoijBiTimn[^[ auiAip joj am oj auioa 
pnB *ss8upm|q moA aSpa{Avou5ioB ppoAV. nOi{ ji 'si jisqj 
i ms ou aA^q p|noqs aX 'puqq ajaA\ a^C jj *iuai{j ojim 
pres snsaf „ 'if *xi nqof ; pauTuinni ijauiAip a91vs\ 
aqi pire 'ssan^fj^p ni ya{ ajaA\. jauuoj aqj j^qj *isuq3 
JO apnjTjBjS pire iCof aqj ajBLidoadd^ avojj 'uoiiBa 
-imrqn ^wiAip jqj asijqQ oa 5{ooj pire 'aouBJouSi pire 
ssaupuqq jiaqj aSpa|Avoui[OB sb qons ajB saq^g „ 
•uiaqj pnno.re p[JOAV aqj Aq asiAi papj^Saj ajB puB 
*uiopsiM OMo jiaqj iiodn piiadap iCipno.id oqAv asoqj 
9JB ;uapnad pire asiM aqj^ „ ^/iqSis Xqj ni pooS 
pauiaas ji os jq; '.laqj^ j 'os uaAa t saqisq ojnn maqj 
pa[BaAa.T js^q pire 'niapiud pin? asiM aqa mo.ij sSiiiq; 
asaqj piq as^q noqj jmil 'qi^rea par? naA^aq jo pjoq; 
KiOT\vB^ O '99^11 ^«^qi I *P!^s pire 'jmdb' ui paoioC 
-aj snsaf jnoq j^q; nj,, 'xS a^^n^; *a|dmBxa ao^ 
•iiop^irejidxa Xp^a.! b jo jmipB ajnjduog jo saS^ss^d 
aii^jjodiui Maj B *asjnoosip siqj jo iqSq aqj uj i 

•jaAajoj AvogjaAO |[tav 
Ij 'i\nj SiC^Avp aq m/A dno jhotC *joafqo pu^ im^Q 
B qons qjTAV ^su^aui qons jo asn aqj uj 'jq^n^l 
X]{BnjuTds saA|asiuaqj a.re sb qons qjiAV ja^Cmd puB 
asjaAuoo pioos ui pu^ 'asnoq s^por) jo saou^uipjo 
puB suoponjjsm aqj uodn aoirepiiajjB — sajniduog 
aqj JO iCpnjs aqj — siream aamjdo.iddB q^ jo asn juaS 
"HIP ^^^1 JO noTaBuiuin{{i aqi ifaag 'f 

:mcpsTM an.u jo aojnos ^{uo aqj sb 
TioTimTTiunqT amArp joj ^|aas puB *j{asmiq iii aoumouSi 



Oil 



SI 

puB ss9TnfJi8p Y8%ox siq 8Sp8[Av.oin[0E uiiq iQi 'si vai]} 
^4 i 8SIAV oq A^m oq ji^q; '[ooj ^ amooaq uiiq J9[ *nOiC 
SuouiB aq p[ROAinBm jCub jj,, ^j'uaA^aq jo uiop 
-SuT5[ aq:^ ojui aajua as^o ou ui ipqs 'najpfiqo 8[wq 
ST? amooaq pws 'pajaaAnoo oq jdaoxg; „ 'Sinqo^a; siq 
uodn aonapasdap a.njna puB ^qoubjouSe pu^ ssaupaqq 
UMo moA JO juaatSpo[MoinioB pnB ssausnoiosuoo [pj 
qjiAv 'imdg Aio}j aqi jo uoi;Buiiun|[T gqj ^laag 'g 

•ajq UI iioutpuoo 

puB noTj^[8J iCj9A8 UT *no.{ uodn SuiAjOAap sapqiqisuods 
-8J aqi IP *isuq3 jo sjuBA.ias aqi 'puBjsJ9pim puu 
c/P^O ^^'^ U9Ai§ A|88aj qoiqM sSuiqj 9qi mou5{ „ 
Xblu no.'C j^qi 'jJBaq jtioA uodn 8A0{ srq j© J9A\od 
ScniBAou9.T oqi Qouaijadxa i^{{n| pui? 'isuqQ mou5[ Ami 
noA iT?qj 'asodjnd 9Aisn|0X9 siqj .loj ji 5fSB 'juidg ^[oji; 
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•umasLn|3 B SB *ssau[nj9sn puB 'ss9np9ss9[q *ss9uqoq 
as9q§Tq jnoA' oj yCjBSS909u si q?iqA\ 9Sp9[M0U5[ i^qj 
no^ 01 u^duii 0} i no A o]un tu9qj Avoqs puB JS[.iq3 
JO sSuiqi JO 95|B] „ 01 *si 9oqjo 9iBudo.TddB s(jj 
M9qoB9i .inoX SB luidg 9qi jo 9Soqi qjiM [Boijugpr 9q 
jsnui uouBrTiuin[[i siq Sui5i99s ui S9Apoui ano^ 

; aiTq 5isb jBqj uj9qj oj iuidg A{0}1 9qi 9AiS *u9AB9q 
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«TQO JO "og oqi uo rpiBj,, puB j9iCBjd Aq jqSnos 
9q ;snui noqBuimn[[T puB 90U9S9Jd |Bnj9dj9d stjj *i 

•JUTdg 

vC[ojj 9qj JO uouBUiuinqi |Bn:i9dj9d 9qj ^ofu9 ubo 9av 
qoTqM uo suoTiipuoo 9q; j9pisaoo mou i\ia\ qj^ 

jj*p9UJ90STp A\19 

-muids 9.IB AQqi 9snB09q 'wani momh an kvd J9qii9a 
iimq oiun ss9uqsqooj ojb A^qi joj tpojc) jo jTjrdg 



691 



JO s^^mqi aqi lou qjaAiaoaj,, 'uoia^uiuinni 9111A 
"IP PI^ jnoq:iiM *iiiopsiA\ ua\o siq oj sjsnjj leqi 

^OBUi oa qi9Mou>f pojc) jo sSuiqj aqj os u9A3 „ uaAa 
-l^qAV aojnos jaqio ou uio.ij umjqo ireo no^ 'jiJidg aqj 
Xq puiui aqi oj pa^uasajd 'i\\nn Jo sjyadsB SuLAiS-ajq 
osoqj^ 'ssau^jj^p ai 5[pM jsniu no^ pas qiM no^ *aou 
-BuiTiin[[T aaiAjp siqunoqjiAi jBqi 'osp 'siin aaqniaiua^ 
•aouauadxa passaiq UMo anoyC m paqsqdiuoooB A[[nj 
8q iCeui asmiojd siqj *juTdg uoq^TTittinj[i 
aqj JO jpsjno.^ SaqisAB «*9J!I Jo ^qi 9A^q 

ipqs jnq i ssau>f JT3p in >{[BA\ jou [[^qs tuiq ui qi8AaT{8q 
aaAaosoqM „ iv,{\i pasiuio.id s^q jsuqQ u'V^D ^^^^ 
-|nj IP qi[M pany?) ^1 '^•'^ "^^^ qoiqAV qSnojqi 
*jT[S[i .§ui[[8Aipur i|[Bnj9dj8d ^ si? no^C in sq oj 'joiARg 
pFiT?po^) jno.{ JO jsaqoTJ puB isb\ aqj sb uaAiS si aq 
iioA ojL 'ajq ui noijipnoo Liqaq in saqissaoau .mo^ 0% 
paid^pB i^iraajJad 8.re qoiqM *qjn.n jo sjoadsB asoqa pire 
*sqjn.ij asoqi ja9S9.id o; 9|qB /(qBnb9 si 9j[j *90U9ng 
-m 9[qissod jS9qJfiq 9qa 9A1909J ipqs no^ i\ uiojj j^qj 
'jaimeui v qons or 'paiiu Jiio.^ oj jii9S9ad 01 9[qB si 9q 
*pUBis.i9pan 01 p99a noyC vex\i qjn.u iC.i9A3 uT^O 
sSaiqj d99p 9qj *B9x{ 's§niqj [\is qi9qojB9S luidg 9qj^ „ 
•luiq 01 UM0U5{ Apo9jj9d si qinJi qy 'Ji.qdg ^lojj 
9q; JO yiS 9qi in 'uBiisuqQ *s9§9|iAijd jno^C 9jb qong 

jj*9siiuojd JO jiJidg ^[ojj 
aqi qiTM p9p9S 9.re 9^„ ^^•uondin9p9J[ jo A^p 9i\i 
ojan p9p9s 9JB 9iC iCq9.i9qA\ ^po^^ jo luidg ^[Ofj 9qi 
joa 9A9iJf) „ •ui9qa .loj p9SBqoand SBq jsuq^ qoiqAi 
8onBau9qni {BaJ9i9 9qj oj 9pTj .n9qj oa p9S s^po^ sts 
i j9uSis SjU9AB9q SB *qons oi u9AiS ST naidg 9qx 'S 

^/uoTss9ssod p9SBqojnd 9qj jo uoiadin9p9j aqj 

|ljan *90UBaU9qUl ano JO aS9UJB9 „ 9qj p9[|B0 si *U0SB8J 
'<fiOIX33i:^a^ MTX;LSX¥H3 g9][ 



giqi xoj *iuidg 9V[% JO ijid aqx 'ssaupassa^q aamnj jo 
ajsBjajqj jsaqou aqj sainiijsaoo sb ist.iq3 jo 8ao[ pae 
aouasajd aqj jo uoiimjj [Bnjadjad piiB [\nj b qong 

j^jajjojujoo „ 9qi pan^o 
SI 9q 'aoigo siq jo jJBd siqi oi 8oaaj9j8.i pioads iij 
•nopoi^B iC.iaA8 ni uoiji^yosaoo SufiiBjan puis Qnj uiaqj 
oj iJuduif SB isuq3 jo sm8TA qons 9ABq iCaqj, 'g 

jj-Uiiq U9AT§ 

9q [[Bqs i] puB *jon qiapiB.iqdn puB '^[[B.i9qq iT9iii ||b oi 
-iin qj9Ai§ oqAv'poo jo ijsb uiiq }Q[ 'luopsiM i[OB| ubiu 
iCuB Ji„ *9siuiojd 9q; UT p8pn[oui os|b si tj'qinjj 

I|B OJUI nO^ pB9[ [{BqS 9JJ „ '9SlTJJ0.ld 9qj ui p9i[duH S[ 

siqx M9UUBIII |Bnj09T;9 isoui 9qi ui uiiq Xjuo^S '9ji[ ai 
uoqrpuoo piiB 9J9qds Xt9A9 ui ^bui 'jsuqQ jo sjuba.i9S 
aqi SB 'i{9q; jBq; *ifaBSS909u si iBqi uiopsiAV 9qj qy 

j/qinji i[B oiui 

nOi{ 9pmS TF'TS *puBjsj9pun oj raiq suj9ouoo ji 

qoiqAV *qjn.n qi^ Jo uond9oa9d joupsip b SBq ^/sSuiqj 
IP qi9Spnf „ — jLiidg 9qj JO jqSriBj ''9 'i — |BnjLnds si 
jBqj 9jj„ ii'pJOT 9qj JO luidg 9qj .{q sb U9A9 ^Ajo[B 
oj Ajlo[S uiojj '9SBU11 91UBS 9qj ojui pg^uBqo 9jb 'pjoq; 
oqjjOi^JOiS 9qi ssB[S b ui sb SuTp|oq9q 90Bj u9do qiTA\ 
*qB 9Ai aug,, j/iCi.i9qq si 9.i9qj 'si pjo^ 9qi jo juidg 
9qj 9.i9q^ „ •ss9up9SS9|q puB ^ji.md js9qS[q Ji9qj oj 
i(aBSS909U 9JB qoiqAV *isuq3 jo 9ao[ oqi jo suoisia 
-J9dJ9d puB *J09Jip puB '[[nj 9soqi [[B 9ABq iC9qx *t 

•juidg 

Xpjj 9qi JO uouBUtranqi [Bnj9dj9d 9qi Ao^uq snqj 
^ oqAi asoqj jo 9jbjs 9q5 .i9pisuoo mou i[iav 9^ 

P9J3BS jsoui puB 9§9qAi.id q^iq .moiC st j/9Sp9|M0(nf 
qidSSBd qotqM *asi.iqQ jo 9Aoi aqj a\ou5I oj puB *iqSi9q 



paB*qiSu8[ puB*q;d8p ptre *qjpB9.tq aqj puaqajdiuoo,, 
oj ofqe aq ^Cblu noA qoiqAV iq *isuq3 jo ^ao[S aqj 

JO SUOISIA SuiS128DUn pilB [[HJ 8Soqj 8AUq OJ ^UBUSUqQ 

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suoiiBuium^i auTAip siq qonanb ubo uis jnq Suiqjou 
puB 'jjBaq aqj jo aidtuaj pajoBs 8.!oiu aqj luojj ja^dap 
a8A8n ii^qs juidg siq jo iqSq aqj j^qj suSisap pof) os 
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-op J8A0U iCjoi§ ouiAip oqj JO uop^jsojiuBiu oiqisTA aqi 
sy n'lpory Sm\\\ aqi jo sa[diu8j oqj „ o.re saA{osui8qi 
iCoqi iBqa piiB jj^jsoqjc) iC[ojj oqj jo so^daioj oqj qjb 
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m oq pu^ 'nOiC qjiAi qjofpAvp oq joj i mii\ aioii5[ 
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-oq 'oAioooj lomcso ppoA\ oqj uioqAi i i\inx\ jo juidg 
oqj UOAO i ddctddof nod ^101 dpiqp fivm dii ^louojiaoQ 
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puB i sjuauipuBuiiiioo Xui daa^i *9iii aAO{ ai jf „ — 
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j/aqSiu B joj 5nq Xubj oj apisu qjaujni j^qj ^laajiiof 
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*si 'juidg siq JO jjiS aqi ui *pof) jo uSisap aqj^ 

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SB *iuidg aq:i jo saouanyui uomiuoo jnq 'snopom 
-lui aqi oj jou *.iajaa ^aqj 'a>|i[i? suBijsiaqQ i|B ;oadsaj 
sa^BssBd asaqi sy 4/no.{ ojiin spjoAV ^iii uavou5[ 
o^Biu |{iA\ ]^ i x\oi uodn 3iJTdg Xui jno jnod qiAv x 'Pl^j^I 
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JO juidg ^lojj aqa qjiM papas a.iaAV a^C 'paAaqaq a^C 
jBqa jajjB 'osp moqM iij,, *gx '5 '^^3 tt'^soq^ if[on 
JO OAiaoaj ipqs a^C puB 'suis jo uoissituaj 



•KOIXOajHaj NTIXSIHHO 



991 



Q\\l JLOj *isuq3 snsaf jo qwl^u aqj m 'noX jo ano £i8Aa 
'paziid^q 8q piiB juada^ 'uiaqj ojan pms .laja j uaq „ 
'8C *n si^V H^I^J •'l^^^ JO aouQnbasuoo m 

puT3 'isuq3 ui 8A8[]8q Xaqi .layi? snmjsuqQ oj aaAiS si 
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ll^qs puB *no2( UI qia{]9Avp 9{j„ ^^'no^ o^un pres 8ABq 
X J8A80Si^qAV '80UBjqrxiaui8J .mOi{ oi sSuiqj i^s Siiuq 
puB *sSaiqa noi qotia:^ IFMS aq 'olubu Am ui puas 
aaqi^ J aqi moqAV *isoqf) v(|ojj aqi si qoiqM *.i8i.Tqj 
-tuoQ aqj in^„ ^/aui jo Xjqjsaj ipqs 9j|„ „-noX oj 
-un 11 A\oqs {{Tjqs puB 'aiiim jo 8>[bj |fT?qs ajj „ •piuui 
aqj JO aiCa aqj uodii p9ao8y9a iC{|Bnnuuoo 8jb jsuq^ 
JO 9A0J puB X.io[S 8qi qonjAV ui 'jqSq Sm[j9Mpui UB 
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-guq3 aqi — 'puBq aaqio 9qa uo 'uBiisuqQ 9qi oj^ 

jj*ju9uiSpnf JO puB 'sscusnoa 
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-aq aoafqo siq 'uis jo .i9A0.id9j b jo uoub|9.t 9Aisnpxa 
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g9X 'HJHDvax 3NiAia aux 



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-sip 01 'j.iBaq siq ui jsijqQ oj {bali £ws aq jaAa ajaqj 



•K0IX33dH3cI >JVIXSmHO 



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aqi JO ^iJidg aqi aiaqM puB f liiidg ^Bq^ si pjoq aqi mo^ „ 



•TiiA as^fioosia 



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iTou^Sqqo aiTugni aqj aAiaoj ad aAV 'iC[l^uij; 'AIX 

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u'm JO 

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[91 



•S3SIICOHJ 



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9Aq 01 jaSuof paurajad aq jon ppoAV 9q 'paypoa^s 
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JO iC^ipjnsqB loajj^d aqj aAiaoaad osj^ Xbui 'jx 

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pof) vs\\% uoijisoddns aqi si a^q^uosBaj Aiojj 'P^O 
joj yCuounasaj qnj j^aq o; paijqtJnb iCpoajjad araoo 
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qp IQ Xnomusaj 

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•KOIXO^JHaa MVIXSI-aHO 



091 



ScriAtS m SI jj 'iiiTq joj sassanjLw as[Bj aq oj pimoj 
8Ai 'pojc) joj iCjus9j snqj jonuBO 8Ai Ji '^iqiH; 
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qons nt ^^poj^) aodn s9A{asjno Xbjs,, oj pa.imbaa pire 
pajoadxa aiB aAV avo >^ ^\ qiajsnaa aq asn^o 

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oj joadsaj m asuq^ jsnaj oj os pa.iinbaj pn^ pajoad 
-xa a.reiaqj^ 'JsijqQ jqj sassamLVi aq oj pambai 
puB paaoadxa aj^ suuijsLiq^ qB asnas jBqAi nj "XI 

•pmra siq 

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pnB 'pios pnB 'jmds ^{oq.^A jno a.uasaad pnB 'iCqoqAi 



651 



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-punoq 8q; uodn aon puB i sSnmioo a.ioqs puB sSaiop 
SuoJM UAVO Jiaqj piuiB ^jaqaqnn jo ssaiT:^.rep aqj 
in *paS(iBJ aA-eq spniui JT9qx qBouaunqo os sj^ad 
-d^ 'ajq siqa m paijijouBS ipjijua Suiaq jo ;q§noqj 
aqj sjossajojd isoui o; imil si ii XqAv 88s 'jj^ 

•j8T[9qnn nr *s9A[9Sjno jo 9jids u] 'sn p|oq 
\\iJA 9q *9|qBoqddBm sj9qao nodn p9xg pu^ 'qv81s xe\ 
-noiyed mo oi p9ss9jppT3 S9smT0.id 9qj uiojj paiin 9qa 
d995]i n^o uB;^g sii Saoj sy •p9ss9jppB s^av oj p9jj9j 
-9.T isjnj. 9siitrojd 9qj qoiqAV oj Bvsis is ojui jqSnojq 
n99q 9A^q uoos pjnoAv 9qs 'siqj uodn j|9s.i9q Sin 

-JSBO jj*p9ABS 9^ 9q pire 9LU 01 ^00"^ „ 'llAfi 01 'oj 

p9j.i9j9a 9ms 9qj m .T9q oj p9SiT0|9q 9Sitaojd J9qjOTi« 
9im^ jj*p90J9id p^q 9qs inoqA\ miq uo 5[oot„ 
OJ J9q JOJ iCjBss909n sbav n 'uanora p[noo pnpTAipui 
jBqi 9.ioj9g ^^l pinoo j qoiqAV nodn Jo '9m 

o; p9Sno{9q j^qj aiqig 9qi nr 9simojd J9qao on sbav 
9J9qnqSnoqai *p9noiiTpnoo sbav 9STniojd jBqi qotqAi 
nodn ojTJjs 9qj nr jon s^av j 9sn^09q pn^ i p9uoj 
-nioo 9q Jio\\i joj i njnoni j^qj ^oqj 9jb p9ss9{g; „ 
*9STniojd 9qj jo iqSnoqj n9:go j '9no preg 'j^qj ni 
9A9q9q OJ idui9nB oj ni9qj Sniss9jd puB *9ibjs jn9S9jd 
ji9qi 01 9{qBoqddB jon si vs^} 9simojd 9nios oi noun9i 
'VB Ji9qa Snuo9.np Jiq si jj •s9Apsui9qa oj noijBoqd 
-dB Ji9qa ni *s9siraojd aqj m sni3usTjq3 jo 90U9pijuoo 
9qi SiCojas9p n9:|jo UBjBg j^qj si ji Moq 99s 9^ i^ 



8SI 



n 

•pjreaq 9q oj ajns 8JB noA *8si 
-uiojd aaingop amos uodn osp Sui;s8J 'joafqo ajimjap 
8UI0S T{iTM. jsuqQ OJ uoK naqM 'jop^aj 'saonBisur 
\\iB uj ; iCBMi3 U85[^j aq pjnoAV Suqqinnjs jo aoistjooo 
lYa *poJ3 jo {[tm aqj oj pajoafqns ^^loajjad puB 
iCii88M.s OS aq sauqiqudaosns puB saiijno^j siq [{is 
pjnoM noos Avoq puB 'isijqQ 0% sauisiiadojd pu^ sj9 
-Mod siq \YS Suuq snqj miq jaj i paAouiaj ais jo oshbo 
ji3|noiiJBd ;^qj 8A^q oj *ssau[njqirej siq uodn *8Simojd 
ajmijap auios jo avoia ui 'jpsuitq jsbo puT? *jsuq3 
oj sjoafqo ajmgap asaqj jo a.ioiu jo auo 95{^j 'Sui[[^j 
JO uoTSBooo 9qj ^sjmsjnd ^{ppoAi jo ^santsuadojd siq 
'sajrjaddu siq 'jaduiaj siq spinj oqA\ 'pu^q jaqjo aqj 
no *[mipTAipaT ms ja^; 'pajaasajd si ogioads Suiqjoii 
piiB *paiigapan pire pjauaS ^[uoairaoo si joafqo 
jiaqj^ 'ssaoons jnoqiiAi isoui[^ '•o?^ 'uoijisoifuon^s joj 
jsuqQ oi iC{ddB sumjsuqQ luqj 'si ^ iCqM aas a^ 

•siiBijsLiqQ o; ssayjgojd jsorayB 
iC[pjanaS os aj^ suosisas qons ^qAi *asoddns j 'uos^aj 
a^ajS aqa si joafqo ajm^ap siqj jo irnsM. aqj^ 'spos 
JO TimoiSiCqj aqi qjiA\ jauu^rii siqj m jnads ji *aq 
p|noA\ jaimd pu^ Smjs^j jo saosT?as a{qT?jyojd mojj 
•jfjissaoaa j^qj o% ^Cparaaj aqj sp asimojd ajiuijap ainos 
01 Ajsa\J8 Sui5[oo| JO asodjnd aqj joj 'spaau aq j^qM 
puB *si aq i^qAV amiujajap o; j|asiniT{ auim^xa p^noqs 
UT?psuq3 aqj og •Xpaiuaj aji3ijdojddB aqj Saii{ddis 
JO asodjnd aq; joj 'as^asip aqi jo ajnjtJu aqj auiiu 
-jajap 01 ''a 'i i anauT?d siq jo suioaduiTCs aqj SamiuiBxa 
m sBq umoiSTCqd aqj si? auiTJS aqj aq p[noqs tj 'jj^aq 
nMO siq Suiqoj^as in 'AvaiA m aAT3q p[noqs u^ijsijqQ 
oqi qoiqAV joafqo aqi pu^isjapiin ^^ui a\\ 



191 



•«a^sii\ronj 



THE DIVINE TEACHER. 



171 



yoiir ignorance and dependence upon me ; therefore 
your character remains unchanged, and your sins rest 
upon you. 1 Cor. ii. 9, " But, as it is written, Eye 
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered 
into the heart of man, the things which God hath 
prepared for them that love him." This passage is 
very commonly considered as applicable only to the 
condition of saints in heaven. The context shows, 
however, that it is applied exclusively to the condi- 
tion of Christians on earth. " But God hath revealed 
them unto us by his Spirit." Such are your privileges 
now. Christian, through the love of Christ reflected 
upon your heart by the Holy Spirit, which is given 
unto you. 

XL We may now understand one, at least, of the 
ways in which the " Spirit beareth witness with our 
spirit, that we are the childi^en of God." When, for 
example, the Christian asks for wisdom from above, 
or for divine illumination in respect to any question 
of truth or duty, and receives from the Spirit an 
answer to his request ; in that answer, the Spirit of 
God bears witness with his spirit that he is a child 
of God. Such is the testimony that he is perpetually 
bearing in the heart of all who are humble and con- 
trite in spirit, and tremble at God's word. Reader, 
do you know what it is to have the witness of the 
Spirit in your own heart ? 

III. We are also fully prepared to answer the ques- 
tion. Id what consists the grand secret of holy living? 
It is an indwelling Christ, whose image is perpetually 
reflected upon the eye of the mind, by the illumina- 



172 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



tion of the Holy Spirit. Reader, is your piety of 
such a character as this ? 

rV. In what sense only is the Holy Spirit a sanc- 
tifier ? " Christ is of God made unto us wisdom, and 
righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." 
The Spirit sanctifies by presenting Christ to the 
mind in such a manner, that we are transformed 
into his image. The common error of Christians, 
in respect to this subject, seems to be this — looking 
away from Christ to the Holy Spirit for sanctifica- 
tion, instead of looking for the Spirit to render 
Christ their sanctification. 

V. For not having Christ perpetually dwelling in 
your heart, reader, as your wi-.ilom, righteousness, 
sanctification, and redemption, you are without ex- 
cuse. For this special purpose the Holy Spirit is 
given to you. In his light it is your blessed privilege 
perpetually to walk. " How much more shall your 
Father which is in heaven give the Holy Spirit to 
them that ask him ? " " Ask, and it shall be given 
you." " For eveiy one that asketh receiveth." 

VI. We see, in the light of this subject, the true 
ground of the expectation, that, in our efforts after ho- 
liness, we may attain to a state of entire consecration 
to Christ. " Work out your own salvation with fear 
and trembling ; for it is God which worketh in you 
both to will anfl to do of his own good pleasure." 
Our hope of attaining to this state rests not at all upon 
a view of our own natural powers as moral agents, but 
upon the provisions of divine grace for our " redemp- 



THE DIVINE TEACHER. 173 

tion from all iniquity," and our perfect " completeness 
in all the will of God," together with the divine aid 
that is promised to succeed all sincere efforts made in 
simple faith in Christ, for the attainment of that state. 
In the redemption of Christ, as we have seen in for- 
mer discourses, full provision is made for the entire 
sanctification of every believer. The Holy Spirit is 
given for the express purpose of so presenting the 
Lord Jesus Christ to our minds, that we may expe- 
rience in our hearts the full power of his redemption. 
The Spirit, it should be remembered, has a perfect 
understanding of all truth pertaining to our salvation. 
He has, at all times, direct access to our heaits, and is 
perfectly able to present the image of Christ to our 
minds in such a manner, that it shall exert upon us the 
highest possible transforming power. He is always 
in us, a perpetually indwelling light, whose highest 
illuminations we can always enjoy, by opening our 
hearts with simple faith and prayer to receive it. With 
such provisions and such a helper, to what state ought 
we to expect to attain ? Who is strongest. Christian, 
= — let me put the question ag-ain, — "he that is in you, 
or he that is in the world ? " Which has the greatest 
power, the Spirit of the living God, together with an 
indwelling Christ, or your fleshly lusts and propensi- 
ties ? Shall the followers of Christ proclaim the fact, 
that the Spirit and grace of Christ are less strong in 
their hearts, than the " world, the flesh, and the devil ? " 
that that grace which changed an enemy into a friend, 
is not adequate to render that friend "perfect and com- 
plete in all the will of God " ? « Tell it not in Gath ! 
publish it not m the streets of Askelon ! lest the daugh- 
ters of the uncircumcised triumph ! " 
15* 



174 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION, 



VII. We are now prepared, in the light of this and 
of the preceding discourses, to understand the great 
and fundamental errors of the Perfectionists, a sect 
which rose some years ago in the state of New York, 
and subsequently spread to a small extent over vari- 
ous parts of the country. The following are some of 
the tenets of this sect. They maintained, 1. That in 
the gospel there is a total abrogation of the moral law 
as a rule of action, and that Christians are forever 
freed from all obligation to God, or any other being. 
2. That, by one act of faith, the Christian is brought 
into such a state, that it is absolutely impossible that 
he should ever afterwards commit sin. 3. That the 
Spirit now communicates truth to Christians by direct 
revelation;, and hence the study of the Scriptures, the 
ministry of reconciliation, prayer, the Sabbath, and all 
the ordinances, and tPie church itself, they wholly dis- 
pensed with. 4. For the teachings of the Spirit they 
substituted impressions and impulses, maintaining 
that every existing desire or impulse is produced by the 
direct agency of the S})int, and therefore to be grati- 
fied. Hence, 5. Many of them maintained the abroga- 
tion of marriage, even, and became the advocates of 
gross licentiousness from principle, and all this under 
the profession of absolute perfection in holiness. The 
reader will at once perceive, that no system could pos- 
sibly be devised, which placed the subject more per- 
fectly under the power of the great enemy, than this. 
The sect, containing in itself the principle of disunion 
and disorganization, very soon burst asunder, and now 
lies in scattered fragments in various parts of the coun- 
try. Its entire history has been the perfect opposite of 
that union which Christ prayed might exist among be- 



THE DIVINE TEACHER. 



175 



lievers, and which perfect love must and will produce. 
In the rise and subsequent disorganization of the sect, 
however, the great enerny has gained one important 
object. Whenever the true doctrine of holiness is 
urged upon Christians, and Christ held up as a sancti- 
fying Savior, he can raise the cry of Perfectionism, and 
thus prevent many from receiving the substance, be- 
cause a few have grasped a shadow. If, in this at- 
tempt, reader, you permit him to gain an advantage 
over you ; if, because others have turned the grace of 
God into lasciviousness, you will reject that grace itself, 
— you foolishly jeopardize your immortal interests. 

Vni. The reader will now clearly perceive, that the 
sentiments maintained in these discourses have no 
alliance whatever with Perfectionism. The two sys- 
tems, in their essential features and elements, are the 
direct opposites of each other. An individual holding 
the sentiments here maintained, cannot become a Per- 
fectionist, without a full and total renunciation of all 
the principles which he previously held. This every 
one will perceive who candidly examines the two 
systems. 

IX. There is one error of the Perfectionists, into 
which Christians not unfrequently fall ; against which 
I wish, in a special manner, to guard the reader. It 
is this: considering impulses and impressions as the 
teachings of the Spirit. An individual has upon his 
mind an undefined impression, that he ought, for ex- 
ample, to speak in meeting, or to pursue some partic- 
ular course of conduct. In following that impression, 
he conceives himsolf to be following the leadings of 



176 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



the Spirit. In refusing to follow it, he supposes him- 
self to grieve or quench the Spirit. Now, the principle 
that I maintain is this — that such impressions are of 
no authority whatever. The man who is led by the 
Spirit, is filled, not with impressions and impulses, 
but with light. He will always be able to give such 
reasons for his conduct as will commend themselves to 
his own and the conscience of every other man. Sup- 
pose, reader, thai you should come to me for instruc- 
tion or advice in respect to any question of truth or 
duty ; what you would expect of me would be, that 1 
should present such considerations to your mind, as 
would enables you to form an intelligent judgment in 
respect lo the question before you. Much more should 
you expect the same thing, when you pray for divine 
teaching. Remember that it is when, and only when, 
you are led by such considerations, that you are led by 
the Spirit of God. The individual who turns away 
from the Spirit, as a teacher and guide, and gives him- 
self up to the control of impulses and impressions, re- 
garding these as the teachings of the Spirit, will very 
soon find himself in the "snare of the devil." 

X. We may also understand, in the light of this 
discourse, the nature of spiritual-mindedness. It is a 
mind, all of whose powers and susceptibilities are 
under the sweet, and perpetual, and all-pervading 
influence of the "things of the Spirit," the truths 
revealed and presented by the Spirit. All such per- 
sons are " led by the Spirit of God," and " they are 
the sons of God." 



XL You may now, reader, answer the question, 



THE DIVIiXE TEACHER. 177 

whether you are really spu'itu ally-minded or not. Do 
you, in your own experience, reap the blissful fruits of 
the Spirit ? " The fruit of the Spirit," remember, " is in 
all goodness, and righteousness, and truth." Again, 
" The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long- 
suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, tem- 
perance ; against such there is no law." Is this the 
character of your religion ? Is this the fruit of the Spirit 
that dwells in you ? " If any man have not the Spirit 
of Christ, he is none of his;" and of the Spirit of 
Christ, these are the appropriate and invariable 
fruits. 

Xn. We see when and how it is that Christians 
"quench" and "grieve the Holy Spirit of God, 
whereby they are sealed unto the day of redemp- 
I tion." It is when they turn away from the glory and 
love of Christ, upon which the Spirit is endeavoring 
to fix their supreme affection and regard, and give 
their hearts to other and inferior objects. When 
you do this, reader, you not only grieve the Holy 
Spirit of God, but you put out the light of your 
own soul. 

Xni. Finally. We are now prepared to look once 
more at the question, whether the great doctrine 
maintained m these discourses accords with the 
mind of the Spirit, by whose inspiration the Scrip- 
tures were written. Here permit me to present a 
few considerations, bearing upon this question, in 
addition to those already presented, and which 
naturally suggest themselves from the train of 
thought which we have pursued. 



178 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION, 



1. The first that I notice is a fact which can hardly 
have failed to impress the mind of the attentive 
reader of these discourses. It is this : Whenever I 
have had occasion to give a full and definite expres- 
sion of my sentiments upon this subject, no phrase- 
ology conceivable has been found to be so perfectly 
adapted to that object, as the simple, unadorned, and 
most frequent phraseology of the Holy Spirit, as 
found in the sacred Scriptures. Can it be, reader, 
as asked in a former discourse, that the Holy Spirit 
has dictated a phraseology so perfectly adapted to 
convey one sentiment, and only one, when His 
design was to convey precisely the opposite sen- 
timent ? 

2. It was just as easy for Christ to make such 
provisions, and to give the Holy Spirit to Chris- 
tians in such measures, as to render their perfect 
as practicable as partial holiness. Of what con- 
ceivable use can sin be as an element of Christian 
character, that Christ should have left it, as an 
inseparable element of that character? 

3. That Christ should have made provision for the 
entire sanctification of believers, and given his Spirit 
in such measure to them as to render that state 
attainable, best accords with his infinite love, and 
the absolute perfection of all his other attributes 
and works. Why should he leave this, the last 
and greatest of all his works, thus imperfect? 

4. This view of the subject best accords with the 
relations which Christians sustain to Christ and the 
world around them. 

They are Christ's witnesses, to testify to the world, 
from their own experience, to the truth of the 



THE DIVINE TEACHER. 



179 



" exceeding great and precious promises " of divine 
grace; promises, many of which are, as we have 
seen, conditioned upon a state of entire consecration 
to Christ. How infinitely absurd, as shown in a 
former discourse, is the supposition that Christ has 
so arranged the dispensations of his grace and Spirit, 
that he shall never have a witness upon earth, who 
can bear full testimony to the truth of his prom- 
ises ! 

Christians are also constituted of Christ "the light 
of the world," by reflecting upon it his image. " God, 
who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, 
hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the 
knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus 
Christ." Who can believe that Christ has definitely 
arranged the dispensations of his grace and Spu*it, 
so that his own image, as reflected through the 
character of his ovm people, shall always be pre- 
sented to the world in a deep and dark eclipse ? 

Again, Chinstians are Christ's representatives — his 
ambassadors — laborers together with God in the 
great work of saving lost men. Who can conceive a 
greater absurdity than this, that God has so arranged 
his dispensations toward his people, that all who are 
cooperating with him in this work, shall be but 
partially devoted to the duties of their sacred call- 
ing. 

Once more, Christians are the "members of 
Christ's body, of his flesh, and of his bones." 
Reader, can you believe that Christ has made no 
provision, but that the members of his own body shall 
be in a state of disease and moral death ? Dare you 
cnst such an imputation upon the Lord Jesus Chi'ist ? 



180 



CHRISTIAI^ PERFECTION. 



5. This doctrijie leads the soul dkectly to Christ 
as a certain remedy for sin, and for all temptations to 
sin, and tends to induce the most vigorous efforts 
after pure and perfect holiness. The opposite doc- 
trine tends directly to weaken confidence in Christ 
as a Savior from sin, and to paralyze efforts after 
holiness. 

6. This doctrine meets perfectly a changeless 
demand of our being, a state of perfect moral rec- 
titude, and tends to inspire the mind with life and 
peace. The opposite doctrine fails to meet that 
demand, and thereby covers the mind, that is 
hungering and thirsting after righteousness, with 
thick gloom. What can be more gloomy to such a 
mind than the thought that he is to be perpet- 
ually wounding his Savior, in the house of his 
friends ? 

7. Finally, this doctrine has all the internal evi- 
dence in its favor, that the Bible itself, or any doc- 
trine of the Bible, that can be named, has. What 
higher internal evidence can be adduced, in favor of 
any doctrine, than this — that it tends directly to moral 
virtue, and meets fully the changeless laws of our 
being ; while the tendency of the contrary doctrine 
is precisely the opposite in both the respects above 
named ? Say the opposers of this doctrine, If it is 
untrue, its tendency nmst be bad. The same might, 
with equal propriety, be said of the Bible, and of 
every doctrine of the Bible. When we speak of the 
tendency of a doctrine, we then look away fi^om the 
question whether it is true or false, to what is intrin- 
sic in the doctrine itself. When we try the doctrine 
under consideration by this principle, we find it to 



THE DIvmE TEACHER. 



181 



have all the evidence in its favor, that any divine 
truth can have. 

No, reader ; in embracing this doctrine, we have 
not " followed cunningly-devised fables." We have 
followed the plainest teachings cf the Spirit and 
word of God. In taking our stand upon this doctrine, 
we are standing upon the " foundation of the apostles, 
and prophets, Jesus Christ hunself being the chief 
corner stone." In looking with humble faith to " the 
very God of peace," that he may " sanctify us wholly, 
and preserve our whole spirit, and soul, and body, 
blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ," 
we only look to hun for a fulfilment of one of his own 
"exceeding great and precious promises" — " Faithful 
is he that calleth you, who also will do it." 

Reader, " believest thou this ? " And will you now 
come to Christ, to have this pi*omise in all its fulness 
accomplished in your own blessed experience ? 
"Now the just shall live by faith ; but if any man 
draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him." 
" Wherefore, seeing we are compassed about with so 
great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every 
weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset us, and 
let us run with patience the race that is set before 
us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of 
our faith ; who, for the joy that was set before him, 
endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set 
down at the right hand of the throne of Grod." 

CONCLUSION. 

In drawing my remarks to a close, I will, in con- 
formity %vith the desires of my own mind, and the 
16 



182 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



suggestions of seme brethren, in whose judgment 1 
place much confidence, give the reader a short ac- 
count of the manner in which I was led, by the Spirit 
of God, as I believe, to adopt the sentiments main- 
tained in these discourses. In regard to my early 
experience as a Christian, I would say, that that 
experience had two prominent characteristics — a 
desire, inexpressibly strong, to be freed from all sin 
in every form, and to be entirely consecrated to the 
love and sei-vice of God, in all the powers and sus- 
ceptibilities of my being. Nor can any one conceive 
the gloom and horror that covered my mind, when 
older Christians assured me, and, as I supposed, with 
truth, that that was a state to which 1 should never, 
in this life, attain ; that my lusts would not be per- 
fectly subdued or subjected to the will of Christ, and 
that one of the brightest evidences of my conversion 
and growth in grace was new discoveries of the 
deep and fixed corruptions of my heart — corruptions 
from which 1 was never to be cleansed till death 
should deliver me from my bondage. Notwithstand- 
ing all the impediments thrown in the way of my 
progress in holiness, 1 continued to press forward for 
a succession of years, till I could say, in the language 
of another, " 1 do know that I love holiness for holi- 
ness' sake." 

In this state, I commenced my studies as a student 
in college. Here 1 fell, and fell, by not aiming singly 
at the " prize of the high calling," but at the prize of 
college honors. I subsequently entered a theological 
seminary, with the hope of there finding myself in 
such an atmosphere, that my fii'st love would be 
revived. In this expectation, I grieve to say, 1 was 



THE DIVIiVE TEACHERe 



183 



most sadly disappointed. I found the piety of niy 
brethren apparently as low as my own. I here say 
it, with sorrow of heart, that my mind does not recur 
to a single mdividual connected with the " school of 
the prophets," when I was there, who appeared to 
me to enjoy daily communion and peace with God. 

After completing my course mider such circum- 
stances, I entered the ministry, proud of my intellect- 
ual attainments, and armed, as I supposed, at every 
point, with the weapons of theological warfare, but 
with the soul of piety chilled and expu'ing within me. 
Blessed be God, the remembrance of what I had 
been remained, and constantly aroused me to a con- 
sciousness of what I was. I looked into myselfj and 
over the church, and was shocked at what I felt and 
what I saw. Two facts in the aspect of the church 
and the ministry, struck my mind with gloomy 
interest. Scarcely an individual, within the ckcle of 
my knowledge, seemed to know the gospel as a 
sanctifying or pea^e-giving gospel. Li illustration of 
this remark, let me state a fact which I met with in 
the year 1831 or 1832. I then met a company of my 
mmisterial brethren, who had come together from 
one of the most favored portions of the country. They 
sat do^vn together, and gave to each other an undis- 
guised disclosure of the state of then* hearts ; and they 
all, with one exception, and the experience of that 
individual I did not hear, acknowledged that they ] 
had not daily communion and peace with God. Over 
these facts they wept, Iwjt neither knew how to direct 
the others out of the thick and impenetrable gloom 
which covered them ; and I was in the same igno- 
rance as my brethren. 



184 



CHRISTIAJV PERFECTIOI«. 



1 State these facts as a fair example of the state of 
the churches, and of the ministry, as far as my ol> 
servation has extended ; and that has been very exten- 
sive. I here affirm, that the great mass of Christians 
do not know the gospel, in their daily experience, as 
a life-giving and peace-giving gospel. When my 
mind became fully conscious of this fact, I was led 
to compare my own, and the experience of the church 
around me, with that of the apostles and primitive 
Chi'istians, and with the "path of the just," as por- 
trayed in the sacred Scriptures. I found the two in 
direct contrast with each other. Hence the great 
inquiry arose in my mind, What is the grand secret of 
holy living 7 How shall I attain to that perpetual ful- 
ness and peace in Christ, which, for example, Paul 
enjoyed. Till this secret was fully disclosed to my 
mind, 1 felt that I was, and must be disqualified, in 
one fundamental respect, to " feed the flock of God." 
While the gospel was not life and peace to me, how 
could I present it in such a manner that it would be 
life and peace to others. I must myself be led by 
the Great Shepherd into the "green pastures, and 
beside the still waters," before I could lead the flock 
of God into the same blissful regions. For years, 
this one inquiry pressed upon my thoughts ; and oflen, 
as I have looked over a company of inquiring sinners, 
have I said within myself, I w^ould gladly take my 
place among those inquirers, if any individual would 
show me how to come into possession of the " riches 
of the glory of Christ's inheritance in the saints." 
But clouds and darkness covered my mind in respect 
to this, the most momentous of all subjects. 

In this state of mind, I became connected with the 



THE DIVINE TEACHER. 



185 



Institution at Oberlin, and continued to press my in- 
quiries witli increasing interest upon this one subject, 
till the fall of 1836. At that time, during a series of 
religious meetings held in the Institution, a large 
number of the members of the church arose and in- 
formed us that they were fully convinced that they 
had been deceived in respect to their character as 
Christians, and that they w^ere now without hope, and 
appeared as inquirers, to know " what they should do 
to be saved." At the same time, the great mass of 
the remainder disclosed to us the cheerless bondage 
in which they had long been groaning, and asked us 
if we could tell them how to obtain deliverance. I 
now felt myself, as one of the "leaders of the flock 
of God," pressed with the great inquiry above referred 
to, with greater interest than ever before. I set my 
heart, by prayer and supplication to God, to find the 
light after which I had been so long seeking. 

In this state I visited one of my associates in the 
Institution, and disclosed to him the burden which 
had weighed down my mind for so many years. I 
asked him if he could tell me the secret of the piety 
of Paul, and tell me the reason of the strange con- 
trast between the apostle's experience and my own. 
In laboring for the salvation of men, I observed, 
that my feelings often remained unmoved and unaf- 
fected, while Paul was constantly "consfrainec?" by 
the love of Christ. Our conversation then turned 
upon the passage, "The love of Christ constraineth 
us," &c. While thus employed, my heart leaped up 
in ecstasy indescribable, with the exclamation, "1 
have found it." I have now, by the grace of God, 
discovered the secret after which I have been searching 
16* 



186 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



these many years. 1 understood the secret of the 
piety of Paul, and knew how to attam to that blissful 
state myself. Paul's piety all arose from one source 
exclusively — a sympathy with the heart of Christ 
in his love for lost man. To attain to that state 
myself, I had only to acquaint myself with the love 
of Christ, and yield my whole being up to its sweet 
control. 

Immediately after this, I came before the churchy 
and disclosed to them what I then saw to be the 
grand defect in my ministry. 1. Christ had been but 
as one chapter in my system of theology, when he 
should have been the sun and centre of the system. 
2. When I thought of my guilt, and need of justifi- 
cation, I had looked to Christ exclusively, as I ought 
to have done ; For sanctification, on the other hand, 
to overcome the " world, the flesh, and the devil," 1 
had depended mainly upon my own resolutions. Here 
was the grand mistake, and the source of all my 
bondage under sin. I ought to have looked to Christ 
for sanctification, as much as for justification, and 
/ for the same reason. The great object of my being 
now was, to know Christ, and in knowing him to be 
changed into his imagCo Here was the "victory 
which overcometh the world." Here was the 
"death of the body of sin." Here was "redemption 
from all iniquity," into the " glorious liberty of the 
children of God." At this time, the appropriate 
office of the Holy Spirit presented itself to my 
mind with a distinctness and interest never under- 
stood nor felt before. To know Christ was the life 
of the soul. To "take of the things of Christ and 
show them, unto us ; " to of>en our hearts to understand 



THE DIVINE TEACHER. 



187 



the Scriptures ; to streDgthen us with might in the in- 
ner man, that we might comprehend the " breadth and 
depth, and length and height, and know the love of 
Christ, which passeth knowledge," and thus be " filled 
with all the fulness of God," — is the appropriate office 
of the Spirit. The highway of holiness was now, for 
the first time, rendered perfectly distinct to my mind. 
The discovery of it was to my mind as " life from the 
dead." The disclosure of this path had the same 
effect upon others, who had been, like myself, '^ivea- 
ry, tossed with tempest, and not comforted." As my 
supreme attention was thus fixed upon Christ ; as it 
became the great object of my being to know him, 
and be transformed into his likeness ; and as I was 
perpetually seeking that divine illumination by which 
I might apprehend him, — an era occurred in my ex- 
perience, which I have no doubt will ever be one of 
the most memorable in my entire past existence. In 
a moment of deep and solemn thought, the veil 
seemed to be lifted, and I had a vision of the infinite 
glory and love of Christ, as manifested in the mys- 
teries of redemption. I will not attempt to describe 
the effect of that vision upon my mind. All that I 
would say is, that, in view of it, my heart melted and 
flowed out like water. The heart of stone was taken 
away, and a heart of love and tenderness assumed its 
place. From that time I have desired to "know 
nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified." I have 
literally " esteemed all things but loss for the excel- 
lency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord ; " 
and the knowledge of Christ has been eternal life 
begun in my heart. 
Now, when the Lord Jesus Christ was thus held up 



188 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



among us, by myself and others, a brother in the 
mmistry arose in one of our meetings, and remarked 
that there was one question to which he desired that 
a definite answer might be given. It is this : " When 
we look to Christ for sanctification, what degree of 
sanctification may we expect from him ? May we 
look to him to be sanctified wholly, or not ? " I do 
not recollect that I was ever so shocked and con- 
founded at any question before or since. I felt, for 
the moment, that the work of Christ among us would 
be marred, and the mass of minds around us rush 
into Perfectionism. Still the question was before us ; 
and to it we v/ere bound, as pupils of the Holy Spirit, 
to give a scriptural answer. We did not attempt to 
give a definite answer to it during that time. With 
that question before us, brother Finney and myself 
came to New York, and spent most of the winter 
together in prayer and the study of the Bible. The 
great inquiry with us was, what degree of holiness 
may we oui selves expect from Christ, when we ex- 
ercise faith in him, and in what light shall we pre- 
sent him to others, as a Savior from sin. We looked, 
for example, at such passages as this — passages of 
which the Bible is full — "And the very God of peace 
sanctify you wholly; and I pray God, your whole 
spirit, and soul, and, body be preserved blameless 
unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful 
is he that calleth you, who also will do it." We 
looked at such passages, I say, and asked ourselves 
this question — Suppose an honest iuquirer after 
holiness comes to us, and asks of us — What degree 
of holiness is here promised to the believer ? May 1 
eiq>ect, in view of this prayer and promise, that Grod 



THE DIVIJVE TEACHER. 



189 



will sanctify me wholly, and presence me in that state 
till the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ ? What answer 
shall we give him ? Shall we tell him that merely partial 
and not perfect holiness is here promised, and that the 
former and not the latter he is here authorized to 
expect? After looking prayerfully at the testimony 
of Scripture, in respect to the provisions and prom- 
ises of divine grace, we were constrained to admit, that 
but one answer to the above question could be given 
from the Bible ; and the greatest wonder with me is, 
that I have been so long a " master of Israel, and 
have never before known these things," Since that 
time we have never ceased to proclaim the redemp- 
tion of Christ as a full redemption. Nor do we 
expect to cease proclaiming it as a full and finished 
redemption, till Christ shall call us home. For 
myself, I am willing to proclaim it to the world, that 
I now look to the very God of peace to sanctify me 
wholly, and preserve my whole spirit, and soul, and 
body, blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. I put up this prayer with the expectation 
that the very things prayed for will be granted. 
Reader, is that confidence misplaced? In expect- 
ing that blessing, am I leaning upon a broken reed, 
or upon the broad promise of God? 

There is one circumstance connected with my re- 
cent experience, to which I desire to turn the special 
attention of the reader. I would here say, that I have 
forever given up all idea of resisting temptation, sub- 
duing any lust, appetite, or propensity, or of accepta- 
bly performing any service for Christ, by the mere 
force of my own resolutions. If my propensities, 
which lead to sin, are crucified, I know that it must 



190 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 



be done by an indwelling Christ. If' I overcome the 
world, this is to be the victory, " even our faith." If 
the great enemy is to be overcome, it is to be done 
" by the blood of the Lamb." 

Believing, as I now do, that the Lord Jesus Christ 
has provided special grace for the entire sanctification 
of every individual, for the subjection of all his pro- 
pensities, for a perfect victory over every temptation 
and incentive to sin, and for rendering us, in eveiy 
sphere and condition in life, all that he requires us to 
be ; the first inquiry with me is. In what particular 
respects do I need the grace of Christ ? What is there, 
for example, in my temper that needs correcting? 
Wherein am I in bondage to appetite, or to any of my 
propensities? What are the particular responsibili- 
ties, temptJitions, &c., incident to each particular 
sphere and condition in life in which the providence 
of God has called me to act ? What is the temper 
that I ought there to manifest, so that I may every 
where, and under all circumstances, reflect the image 
of Christ? 

Thus, having discovered my special necessity, in 
any one of the particulars above referred to, my next 
object is, to take some promise applicable to the par- 
ticular exigency before me, and go directly to Christ 
for the supply of that particular necessity. By having 
the eye of faith perpetually fixed upon Christ in this 
manner ; by always looking to him for special grace in 
every special exigency ; yes, for "grace to help in 
every time of need," — how easy it is to realize in our 
own blessed experience the truth of all the " exceed- 
ing great and precious promises" of divine grace! 
How easy it is to have the peace of God, which passeth 



THE DIVINE TEACHER. 



191 



all understanding, " keep our hearts and minds through 
Christ Jesus." " Our peace is then as a river, and our 
righteousness as the waves of the sea." The mind 
seems to be borne upward and onward, as upon an 
ocean of light, peace, and blessedness, which knows 
no bounds. 

" O glorious change ! 'tis all of grace, 

By bleeding love bestowed 
On outcasts of our fallen race, 

To bring them home to God ; 
Infinite grace to vileness given, 
The sons of earth made heirs of heaven." 

And now, reader, " my heart's desire and prayer to 
God " for you is, that you may know this full redemp- 
tion. If you will cease from all efforts of your own, 
and bring your sins, and sorrows, and cares, and pro= 
pensities which lead into sin, to Christ, and cast them 
all upon him ; if, with implicit faith, you will hang 
your whole being upon him, and make it the great 
object of life to know him, for the purpose of receiv- 
ing and reflecting his nnage — you will find that all the 
" exceeding great and precious promises " of his word 
are, in your own blissful experience, a living realityo 
The waters that Christ shall give you " shall be in 
you a well of water springing up into everlasting life." 
You shall have a perpetual and joyful victory over 
" the world, the flesh, and the devil." Every where, 
and under all circumstances, your peace in Christ 
shall be as a " river, and your righteousness as the 
waves of the sea." " O taste and see that the Lord is 
good." " There is no want to them that fear him." 
And, reader, when your cup is once filled with the 



192 



GHRISTIAN PERFECTlOJy. 



love of Christ, you will then say with truth, " The 
half has not been told me." " Eye hath not seen, nor 
ear heard, nor have entered mto the heart of man, the 
things which God hath prepared for them that love 
him." 



NOTE ON THE NEW COVENANT. 

I HAVE recently learned that certain objections to the 
views of the " two covenants," presented in the pre- 
ceding discourses, have been started by some, on ac- 
count of the declaration of Paul, Heb. viii. 13, " In 
that he saith a new covenant, he hath made the first 
old. Now, that which decay eth and waxeth old is 
ready to vanish away." If the old covenant is the 
moral law, does not the apostle, it is asked, here affirm 
its abrogation ? In reply, I would remark, that the 
old covenant, as shown in Discourse II., is the moral 
law, with the types and shadows of the ancient dis- 
pensation annexed to it. It includes, therefore, not 
only the " ten commandments," but all the precepts 
of the Pentateuch, together with the whole ritual of 
Moses. All these together, considered as a system 
of moral influences for the moral renovation of man, 
constituted the old covenant. The moral law, as im- 
bodied in the ten commandments, was, by way of 
eminence; called the covenant, because it imbodied 
the most essential elements of that covenant. Now, 
the moral law, considered as a rule of action, consti- 



WOTE ON THE NF.W COVENANT. 193 

tiites an essential element of both covenants, the new 
as well as the old. In this sense it can never " wax 
old," nor be abrogated. But contemplated as a part 
of the ancient dispensation, and as a part of a system 
of influences for the moral renovation of man, it has, 
together with the entire ritual of that dispensation, 
ah'eady " waxed old and vanished away." 
17 



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